Journey through Universes: Of Metal and Bones
by Monkeybandit2
Summary: (SI/AU) I have no idea how it happened but I no choice but to deal with it. I just hope that it's not in vain. That I can turn back in the end. I did like having hands after all...
1. F'n hell

**I do not own either Starcraft nor Overlord the anime... (Cries.) For that matter any other characters/material/etc that may or may not show up belong to their respective owners... whomever they might be. This story is for entertainment purposes only after all.**

**Rated M mostly as a precaution... that and I may be using the word fuck enough times to not only warrant it but potentially ruin either the story or the word itself. :P**

Journey through Dimensions: Of Metal and Bones

Chapter One: Fucking hell!

Unknown

... why is it so dark? Why can't I feel my limbs? Where's my voice? Why can't I breath? Wait, I'm not breathing? OH SHIT I'M NOT BREATHING?! AM I DEAD?! IS THIS HELL?! OH DEAR GOD I HOPE NOT! I MAY NOT HAVE BEEN THE BEST PERSON ALIVE BUT I SURE AS HELL FIGURED I AT LEAST HIT PURGATORY OR SOMETHING BEFORE THAT IF HEAVEN'S STANDARDS WERE THAT STRICT! WHY THE FUCK WOULD I THINK CONVERTING TO MORMONCY—I MEAN MORMONOLOGY... WHATEVER IT'S OFFICIAL NAME IS AS A REQUIREMENT TO ENTER HEAVEN! IT WAS A COMEDY SKIT FOR FUCK'S SAKE!

_**HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLP!**_

_Boot up sequence, engaged._

... Huh?

_Booting completed. _

... What?

_Activating unit._

What is—oh look I can see now!

... this isn't my bedroom. Not in the fucking slightest. THIS WASN'T EVEN MY HOUSE! I'M IN SOME SORT OF GIANT HANGAR... THING! _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—_

_Anti Gravitational propulsion system engaged. Directional Audio Communication System enabled._

"—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—"

From my apparent place of rest I shot out and lunged forth into the open expanse of whatever futuristic territory this was with nothing more than the _sheer panic_ being both my sole motivation toward moving at all and the closest thing I have to comfort at this point! Hell, maybe through blind luck—wait, what was that? Movement? No that wasn't movement but a glint of light bouncing off something shiny.

I came to a stop and swivel to take—wait, swivel? Where's my feet?

... I don't want to look but I got to. And looking down...

... dear God it's like one of those fps games where you have no legs! A shadow, yes, BUT NO LEGS! WHERE'S MY FUCKING LEGS! WHERE—HOLY SHIT! IN TURNING FURTHER DOWNWARD I'VE FLIPPED OVER AND NOW TURNING OVER IN A FULL 360! WHAT THE FUCK!?

OKAY! CALM DOWN! CALM DOWN ME! CALM THE FUCK DOWN!

OKAY! Ok-_ay_! Just breath...

Oh dear God I'm not brea—_NO!_ DO! NOT! PANIC! DAMN! IT!

... LOOK FOR THE SHINY THING I JUST SAW EARLIER! SHINY MEANS REFLECTIVE! REFLECTIVE MEANS MIRROR! MIRROR MEANS CONFIRMING WHAT THE FUCK I TURNED INTO! MOVE!

And so I went!

Hovered, scooted, floated, whatever! I soon came upon what looked to be some sort statue... some sort of familiar—holy crap is that a zealot? The robotic version? It's a little less bulky than I remember on SC 2... a prototype or one of those concept models perhaps...?

... Am I where I think I am?

... With great reluctance I creep closer to the immobile construct and looked upon it's chromed steel-like surface. Already an image of what only could be myself shone back on its polished surface but I kept coming closer regardless to ensure that what I saw wasn't some warped image brought on by the natural curvature of the model's rendition of a protoss' body. Sadly as I came closer the reflection became much more definitive. With each inch I hesitantly trekked the image became less deniable... whatever had happened... my body was no longer what it once was. Gone were my hands and arms. Feet and legs. Torso, face, hair, beard... gone. Whatever had happened when I went to bed last night had rendered me into what I can only assume to be a probe... A rather big one, kind of similar a SR's CID in appearance but a probe nevertheless with its stabilizer fins on the undersides of my body as well as a more decoratively placed one atop of my newfound 'head'...

Sadly swerving to the left and right did jack to dissuade me that this was somehow not real. Neither did ramming the model; I could sense the impact, I even seen the flash of my plasma shields taking hit, _hell_, I could _read_ the _readout_ of the shield's percentage of its current charge, but I _**felt **__nothing_...

... I been fucking Swarm of War'd... I DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER FINISH READING IT AFTER A SPELL OF TWENTYISH CHAPTERS!

"_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—"_

XVX

Cybros, two hours later...

Well, for better or worse I finally calmed down after 'running', floating, whatever around while screaming my 'head' off the entire time. Kind of amazing really: no organic body, no need for breathing, no gasping for hair to keep screaming, no worrying about your vocal cords being torn up because of said screaming... it's kind of cathartic really. On second thought kind of scary too from its implications as well considering I've finally noticed the little clock on my little HUD. Two hours-ish, really? Well I suppose it's actually reasonable given the fact that I'm now a _FUCKING PROBE_ now without a _HINT OF AN __EXPLANATION_... Fuck it. I've got slightly bigger problems to worry about.

It took me awhile but my memory was jogged enough to realize I was in Cybros's main floor. Or at least a more detailed version of what Artanis fought in while trying to activate the Purifiers. So far since I hadn't so much as seen one purifier, protoss, or, thankfully, zerg about I can only guess one of two things apply to my situation at hand: either I'm on Cybros before the stasis field was deactivated by Artanis or after. I'm personally rooting for "before." From canon alone the more recent 'toss as a whole are just warming up to terrans at best with a few holdouts here and there, namely the older ones. Purifiers though whose personalities are were born from truly ancient protoss from who knows when, most likely _long_ before the first human came to the Koprulu Sector, ergo they have no idea what terrans are if I'm right. The most I can hope for is _praying to God they would be willing to give me half a chance if they wake up at this point_. Regardless though, this place, like any other place, is pretty damn creepy without people in it. Hell, I might be starting to understand that Tiny Guy, or whatever his name is, from Venture Brothers when he started going on about being alone in that room without even the ants as enemies to keep him company. At any rate I guess now is as good as any other time to experiment before I learn what I can do too late.

Alright, if I can get my probe body to move simply by flailing about on an emotional level, what happens if I put my mind to it? Let's see... is there a buil—Oh! Yes! Oh! Full arsenal as well! Good! Hey, what's this... a unit list? Wait, from the icons here it looks to be the purifier variant of the units available. Can I basically build units with this probe? Huh. Anyway first things first though. Every good base starts with—... and no minerals. Nor a Nexus to turn the minerals in to... real catch 22 here. Maybe if I pile them up into a stack, kind of like Ami did in the early days of her dungeoning career? Oh that reminds me, I need to finish reading that too... do I at least have access to the interne—no. Damn it. Alright, stockpile plan it is! Now to find me some minerals! Hopefully there's some in those corner base deals where the zerg built their forces during the game.

Ah ha! There it is! Now to enact Haphazard Plan #1! Now let's see if...

_Mineral Extraction Protocol engaged._

Excellent! Now to—

_Processing. Mineral verified. Activating Isolated Storage Network. Storing._

Huh? Wait what happened to—oh! I'm getting a reading for my mineral stockpile! So this thing is basically a mobile Nexus? Huh...

Mineral supply reading six minerals. Seven. Eight. Nine Ten... This might take a while.

XVX

And 101... 102... 103...

XVX

"Save the last pint for me boys (287 minerals...). Save the last pint for me (288 minerals...). I'll be home with the Book of Rule so you save the last pint for me (289 minerals...)..."

XVX

384... 385... 386... Almost there.

XVX

FINALLY! NEXUS TIME! _"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"_

_Construction Procedure engaged. Allotting materials for requested construct. Warp Matrix, construction variant activated._

_Bzzztzz!_

"YES! YES!" IT'S SO UNEXPECTEDLY BEAUTIFUL IN PERSON! WHOO!

... and unlike in the game I'm not given something of a timer to—no wait, never mind. Had to dig for that one.

... this might take while. Back to work I guess.

"Come all ye young fellows that follow the sea (1). To me weigh, hey, blow the man down (2)..."

XVX

_Warp successful_.

Alright! Now let's...

...

That's... strange. It's like my mind is in two different places yet fully cognizant... Is that the word? Feels right. I think. Anyway! It's as if I'm both the probe and the Nexus at the very same time... Hm...

Let's see. Move the probe about randomly and activate the Nexus' production line at the same time? Let's give it a go!

_Resources allocated. Construction commencing._

Yes! I can do both without so much as being dizzy! Now let's see what happens when a new probe enters the field. Wait. Let me take a good look at that... Huh. Apparently in my haste I've deigned to build an old school version. The kind found in SC 1. I wonder, are there others? Yep. There are others. Normal probe we all know and love, Servitor and Master? What's the Master Probe—oh! Interesting. Apparently that's the body I woke up in! But what exactly is the Servitor one for? Let's build that one next.

Ah! Probe's done! Neat! Now let's see if I can direct this one without much attention. Auto pilot gathering as it were. And away you go buddy.

Hm. A little strange. Aware but not consciously controlled per se, kind of like breathing. Yet I can if I so wished. Some sort of subroutine perhaps? Let's see... Yep. There's what I can only assume to be some sort of basic AI operating it in my place when I'm not consciously moving it it seems. Now let's see it's little build list... Not anywhere as extensive as the Master type apparently. Nor can it directly absorb materials like the Master class. Interesting. A helluva lot cheaper though. 1000 Minerals, really? In comparison the other two are 50 a piece—drone's done!

Now let's see what we have here. Not a builder or even a collector apparently. Ah! A repair function! I always found that one sorely needed for the protoss. Anyway. A little tractor beam to pick up and move objects... What's this? An attack laser? Let's see—

_Pew-pew!_

Yep. Attack laser. Or attack photon, whatever. Varying power levels too. Maybe it's more of a utility laser, like to cut things or carving. Now that I think about it that would make sense given the whole bit on the Spear of Adun where those probes were cutting off nerve cords. Now that I think about it didn't Karax have attack probes like these? They look kind of similar... Meh. Not important, for now at least.

What next... Gateway? Gateway. after making more probes of course. Wait a sec... Yep. I can only build the old school models. I guess for all intents and purposes I'm working with an older network. Probably based on the time period just before the Purifiers were shut down. Interesting. Eh, it's not as if it's going to stop me at any rate.

_Resources allocated. Construction commencing._

That might get old real quick...

At any rate, how much do I have left... Enough for a gatew—Damn it! I forgot the assimilators! Let's get on it shall we?

_Construction Procedure engaged. Allotting materials for requested construct. Warp Matrix, construction variant activated._

_Bzzztzz! Bzzztzz!_

Ugh. Alright with that out of the way-ahheeey aannnd I'm back to a pitiful amount of minerals once more... fuck.

... _sigh._

XVX

_Warp successful_.

Alright. I have a burgeoning fleet of probes collecting both minerals and vespene gas on my behalf. I Made myself a pittance of servitors to at least provide a sad but token amount of defense on my behalf. I also thankfully had the mind to make a pylon before I bothered with the gate. AND NOW I HAVE MY GATE AT LAST! HAHAHAHAHAHAAA! FACES ARE GOING TO BE CHOPPED AT THIS...

Wha?

That can't be... Where's the zealots? The dragoons? The templars? This doesn't... wait a minute. _GATE!_ It's a _GATE_, not a training facility like in the game! It's suppose to shuffle troops _through_, not make them! Doh! Okay, okay... So essentially I don't have anyone affiliated with me to utilize the gate should I command it. I guess if I want an army I would have to build some sort of production facility? Let's take a look at my menu here...

Shipyard? That definitely wasn't... Right. NOT IN A GAME ANY MORE! Got to get that through my head!

Still though... the more I look at it, the more details I see. While I can't say I know how the protoss usually build their ships, by looking at the schematics this seems to be a more automated process...

Hold on... wasn't the nexas building probes an automated process?

Son of a bitch.

Despite not needing to my probe body turned to stare at the nexas the moment I confirmed that it was indeed a manufacturing plant for not only probes but _mechanized soldiers_ as well.

_Resources all—_

Stop that!

_Unit construction notifications deactivated._

... huh.

... As the zea—Sentinel. Apparently it was named a sentinel. Anyway, as it was developing with a queue of four others behind it I look to my build menu once more and select the Cybernetics Core even as I simultaneously eyed both the dragoon and the... Prototype Anti-Infantry variant Dragoon? Okay then. Let's give this a whirl then. _Rename: Stalker_.

_New name designation authorization required: Would you like to rename the Anti-Infantry Dragoon Variant as Stalker? Y/N._

... I have not actually read . I've seen it on TV Tropes when scrolling through the self insert page, got curious and clicked on it (or at least that's how I remember it), but I have not actually read it. Was she remotely as annoyed by this as I am right now? At any rate... _Yes_.

_Confirmed. Anti-Infantry Dragoon Variant is now renamed as Stalker._

Hm. Now that I'm thinking about it maybe I shou—oh wait, no internet. Gah!

_Sigh._

Anywho...

_Construction—_

No notification!

_Bzzztzz!_

_Construction Procedure notifications disabled._

XVX

An hour later

Despite the shocking size of the ship level I found myself in there was sadly not much room to actually build myself a shipyard to make ships. Needless to say I learned better than to make stargates lest I repeat my little fiasco with the gateway. That didn't stop me from warping in other structures though. For all its wonders my Nexas/Manufacturing Plant couldn't build the parts to the more sophisticated and advanced designs of the stalkers and the dragoons, thus necessitating the use of a Cybernetics Core. Likewise the forge was needed to make Photon Cannon parts. Interestingly enough while the Forge was of the old design the cannons were of the newer design, so I guess they salvaged something from the program then given the turrets in SC2. The Robotics Facility was of the old design too. While not in of itself a problem, I cannot help but be a little perturbed by the fact that I couldn't make immortals. Colossi, yes. Shuttles as well. Interestingly enough no reavers though. I guess they came after the program or something like that. But overall this was definitely hammering in the point that I was working with old designs here. Old but functional at least.

For better or worse I began to truly explore the ship I was stuck in with my growing army. Old abandoned work stations littered the walls here and there with more models of potential designs that evidently weren't implemented into the Purifier Program. No sign of the zerg, thank God. The Nullifier crystals were still intact so I got lucky on that front too. I guess all I can do at this point before Artanis and his crew show up is hold down the fort. To that end I began constructing bases on the other mineral clusters barring the one at the middle where Artanis will show up. Or bound to, either or. At any rate I did surround it and other locations with powered photon cannons just in case the zerg showed up. At the very least I would have some warning as to what would happen. On a related note my gateways finally came in handy when they connected with each other, allowing me to funnel troops between locations both at the bases and my more outlying outposts...

Hmf...

I guess... I have nothing better to do until then... Just... exist and tinker until then... I hope they don't leave me here too long.

Even with the fact that my consciousness was split between the probes, the buildings and even the now patrolling units of sentinels with their dragoon/stalkers compliments, I felt the need to swerve the master probe from one side to another as if I were turning my head, hoping against hope that maybe, just maybe, there was someone else there to take the edge off this encroaching sense of isolation placed upon me. But there was not a soul in sight for either my probe's 'eye' to see nor any of my 'soldiers' to glance upon.

"... Spaceman out here on my own," I half hum to myself to stave off the silence no amount of stomping metal feet to dispel whilst I roamed my 'menu' for one of the more unheard of units to start observing and experimenting with. "I am alone. In solitude I'm free, through space I roam..."

**A/N: As is a growing trend for me, this idea got stuck in my head and wanted out. Unlike other cases however I felt more inspired to write this one... Though to be honest I admittedly kind of got the idea from **_**The Swarm of War**_** by **_**VexMaster**_**, yet the idea itself didn't truly kick in until I recently began to play SC2: Legacy of the Void once more for the fun of it. **

**At any rate this story in particular is the first of my first intended series, broken up for the sake of making it at least marginally easier to keep track of as well as to somewhat emphasis what crossovers they would be focusing on (both planned and whimsical, suggestions are welcomed). I honestly hope it goes well.**

**Anyway...**

**Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds.**


	2. F'n bastards

**I do not own either Starcraft nor Overlord the anime... (Cries.) For that matter any other characters/material/etc that may or may not show up belong to their respective owners... whomever that might be. This story is for entertainment purposes only after all.**

**Rated M mostly as a precaution... that and I may be using the word fuck enough times to not only warrant it but potentially ruin either the story or the word itself. :P**

Journey through Universes: Of Metal and Bones

Chapter Two: Fucking bastards...

Cybros, two (estimated) weeks later

"Everybody was kun fu fightiiiing! Huh!" As one a group of six sentinels threw out a kick much like one would find in stock footage for a martial arts training scene. "Those kicks were as fast as lightniiiing! In fact it was a little bit frightniiing!" The robots then began to punch at the air before them.

... I know it's stupid but what else was I suppose to do when I unfortunately no longer had the ability to sleep, or thankfully eat else I'd starved to death by now, and I had nothing but time on my hands without so much as a sudoku puzzle to mess with over and over and over again? And I never messed with sudoku! That and the Arbalest, basically a zealot, or sentinel in this case, who traded his psi blades for what amounted to a giant under slung rifle, was giving me many a headache. I mean fitting a psi bayonet on the thing was surprisingly easy enough. Modifying the firing rate however not remotely as much without blowing up the gun, the bot or both at the same time. I would like to say it was a venting issue but frankly while I admire guns I am no expert on them, much less high tec types that would be reserved for the likes of Star Wars, Mass Effect and... Starcraft... (_Coughs and clears my throat despite the lack of one_.)

Right, anyway...

Since for all intents and purposes I was not in a game, as far as I knew anyway _(shudders despite lacking a true body)_ I was not privy to the breakdown to attack damage as well as the rate of which. The closest I could do was line an Arbalest up with a stalker and a dragoon and have them fire upon a specially constructed shell of a dragoon for the occasion, stripped of its weapons and shielding and all the cheaper to make for it; no vespene gas whatsoever! The rate of fire was roughly the same for all of them at any rate, having said that though the arbalest being the fastest of the three. As for who done the most damage I had to make more dummy dragoons as well as disarmed zealots to get a better idea after observing the damage as both the attacker and the victim. It was kind of disturbing as it was interesting really, especially since I thankfully couldn't feel pain for this exercise... That aside however I wasn't exactly surprised to see the dragoon being the chief heavy hitter of my little troop in regards to his target, especially once an anti-armor subroutine kicked in. As for the stalker and the arbalest, the stalker edged him out if only slightly with its firepower... sadly during my observations I was quick to learn that my stalkers apparently lacked the ability to use Blink; it can move fast enough to keep pace with my sentinels whenever they weren't charging, shoot faster than the dragoons both in terms of powering up to fire, actually firing and frequency of attacking but that was it. Maybe by making it essentially a lighter dragoon they thought it was fitting to call it an "anti-infantry" type? It seemed a little off to me but I can get the appeal for fighting anything squishier than a literal tank. Regardless...

The arbalest was fairly comparable to the stalker. Unlike the latter and the dragoon however it seemed to lack a system to enhance its primary method of attack for a heavier target. It was relatively quicker but in comparison that was it's only advantage. It didn't take a genius to figure out that one arbalest by itself could easily be overwhelmed by multiple opponents on an open battlefield. I played enough Shogun 2, multiplayer Halo and Battlefield matches to keep in mind that friendly fire was a thing. _A very dangerous thing_...

... with the occasional case of _fucking hilarious_ when you're not the victim of it. Or even if you are the victim if you're in a good enough mood.

Still though. Getting to cover was basic enough on all levels. The rifles might even work against terrans if push comes to shove. Zerg though, namely zerglings with their infamous numbers? Or shit hit the fan with protoss zealots without anything to slow them down? Hence the modifications. Namely trying to get a faster firing speed before the heating failsafe kicks in and forcibly renders the gun useless for a time...

At this point I'm just considering making a new gun altogether. Ideally something like a minigun for those little fuckers before they get their little claws on my gunmen. But that was a headache for later. For the time being I'm going to savor my first successful modification being implemented into future production models and goof off. The ones I built beforehand however would have to make do with the ridges or the shield of bodies so they could line up the shot.

_**ALERT! Base under attack by unidentified bioforms! ALERT! Base under attack by unidentified bioforms! ALERT—**_

_The hell?!_ What the hell is—"ZEEEEEERG!"

Almost instantly my attention was ripped away from my martial artist rip offs to the photon cannon blasting at the _UNWANTED BASTARDS_ barreling down on it with their fanged maws wide open. Each shot was either killing one of those disgusting cockroach-dog-things or at worse maiming it enough to outright cripple it. But there were far too many. Before long the blood thirsty buggers were upon me—cannon! On the cannon! Cannon me! FUCK IT! As if viewing these cockroach fuglies barreling down on me wasn't bad enough, now I'm getting confused! Regardless, panicking aside I had enough sense to snap up all the nearest patrols to this position! Still I wasn't holding my breath here, especially with the bastards chewing and clawing at my shields! Cannon me's shields! Whatever!—as I and the other cannon mes in range blasted at these abominations! It's as weird and terrifying as it sounds!

"DIE BUG BASTARDS, DIE! YOU WILL NOT HAVE MY NUMBER HERE!"

Even as I pushed against the cannons' safeguards to dwindle the numbers I saw the first of the hydralisks and roaches slinking up behind their expendable brethren. Worse... to my growing horror I saw my very first hybrid in all its grotesque glory bearing down on my defenses.

_**Alert! Base under attack—**_

... it wasn't just that corner under assault. As my self dubbed western flank was being mobbed the eastern front. The north, the south, northwest, southwest... the entire theater was under siege, all from newfound holes in the walls that only grew bigger with each monster forcing its way through when they found the previous hole wanting.

_Fuck_.

XVX

Meanwhile, The Spear of Adun's bridge

"Hierarch, we are receiving a transmission from the executor's forces within Cybros!"

"Good. I was afraid with Cybros' passive defenses would prevent such. Patch him through."

"Yes Hierarch."

Even with the mantle of Hierarch Artanis couldn't help but stand just a little bit straighter as the psi-screen bore the image of a helmeted warrior, Coross, Artanis' chosen field commander for this mission to awaken the Purifiers, came into view. A good portion of his mind would like to say that this small token of respect was to be expected of someone in his position given that he chosen this warrior to lead his forces. He knew the truth however. Though his days as a templar proper were well behind him upon taking up the position as the leader of a united people it was out of sheer force of habit out of reverence and respect for a superior. Sometimes life was amusing like that. But now was not the time for such idle musings unfortunately.

"Hierarch," the warrior dutifully acknowledged. "As you have instructed we have successfully entered Cybros through one of its docking bays and proceeded to establish a base."

"Good," Artanis nodded. "I trust that you arrived there without hindrance?"

"None hierarch despite the zerg and hybrid presence," Coross confirmed.

"I was afraid of this," Artanis solemnly sighed. "I had hoped we would be here first. Even so our mission, your mission, hasn't changed. We _need_ to awaken the Purifiers."

"If I may be so bold, hierarch, it would seem they are already awake and active."

"Come again?"

The image of the helmeted executor swapped out for an image of a battle taking place as the zerg smashed themselves against a wall of sentinels as the orbs of the photon cannons lifted themselves high in order to avoid obliterating their own. Similarly the bulky sleeked shells of dragoons stood as high as their legs would allow them to achieve similar results as a trio of colossi burned through the hordes that assailed the battle line from the security provided by the sentinels stemming the tide. Sadly though for all their efforts it was slowly being pushed back despite reinforcements surging from a nearby gateway to reinforce the line and replace those that were lost. Likewise other screens were created to provide live feeds of similar battlefronts from within Cybros, all of which dire as the purifiers attempted to keep the zerg from advancing further. Sadly in one case it seemed the zerg broke through thanks to the a concentration of hybrid headed by a behemoth. Even so they weren't unopposed. Stalkers and sentinels armed with photon rifles opened fire from a nearby platform as a contingent of zealots charged from a nearby gateway. From all sides colossi set in as well only for one side of the tightening ring to divert in an attempt to thin out the zerg's numbers.

"The Purifiers... they're active?!"

"It would seem so hierarch."

"Artanis."

A new image situated itself amongst the live images of the battle in progress. From the voice alone he knew who it was but the shine off of his metallic dome of a mechanical head only served to confirm who it is. Fenix, reborn as a purifier himself, now gazed upon him from the Solar Core.

"In all honesty I am not entirely certain, but I am confident to at least suspect that whoever or whatever these forces are that are combating the zerg are _not_ the Purifiers themselves."

"What do you mean?" Artanis all but demanded in confusion as he spared a glance at the various conflicts taking place.

"Hierarch, if I may interject?"

A new screen appeared bearing Karax's profile. Like with Fenix there was a shine to his profile meaning he hadn't left the Solar Core either. Unlike Fenix however it seemed he was dividing his attention on the matter at that very moment as the phase-smith's eyes darted here and there. Perhaps one of the core's consoles if the templar was to guess. "There is credence toward Fenix's suspicions. Namely the Null Circuits are still active. As it stands the Purifiers and even Cybros itself is effectively dormant for the time being. Whoever or whatever these, well, 'Purifiers' that we are witnessing right now do not appear to be connected to Cybros in any way. In fact if anything they're more similar to our Sentinel designs collected from Glacius."

An inquisitive gaze flicked over to one of the scenes from the battlefield just in time to see a sentinel holding a hydralisk aloft by the throat as it stabbed its chest with the psi blade of its free arm with distinct sense of un-templar-like savagery. Even once it was beyond a doubt dead the sentinel reared its free arm back and plunged the blade through its head before ripping it out, tossing the body aside and seemingly bellowing to the sky like a warrior from a primitive civilization. Barely three seconds later it was assailed by numerous other hydralisks and roaches joining the fight. The unit barely lasted longer than those three seconds into the assault before both its shields failed and the unit itself toppled back in a quick defeat.

"... an older incarnation of which to be precise," Karax amended when the sentinel didn't so much as twitch. Likewise in other screens other sentinels met similar fates in battle without pulling themselves together in a mechanized rebirth as further proof. "Not only that but I would even dare say that these... Sentinels for lack a better word are more... emotional than even are more advance creations. In fact comparatively speaking I would say they have more in common with Fenix than our own sentinels."

In his own screen Fenix sharply turned his head with what Artanis could only assume to be a glare of sorts. One Karax apparently felt as he briefly stopped with whatever he was looking at to turn his own head in Fenix's direction. "I'm sorry. I meant no offense... I just couldn't help but notice their more bizarre behavior compared to what I observed with our sentinel units so far."

Fenix's glare abating as he let loose a gruff but accepting "hmmf". Regardless even Artanis couldn't hep but agree with Karax's assessment. Be it contrived coincidence or fate it would seem the zerg finally either relented or ran out of numbers to throw at one of the defensive emplacements. Once the last ultralisk toppled over and exploded in a gory death the sentinels located there began to _celebrate_ of all things. Leaping up and down, hugging one another and even performing that one maneuver he believed the terrans called a "high five", as well as another gesture which he knew not the name of. He seen it before and inferred it as an insult of some sort but he couldn't help but wonder why terrans would bother with emphasize one protruding finger over the rest to those they clearly despised at the very least. That aside he himself had observed their robotic templar in action. That said there was a clear difference between them and Fenix. Observing these strange sentinels though it was more than clear that Karax was indeed correct in that they were more comparable to Fenix. Even so... he knew Fenix, both before and after his resurrection as it were. He knew a Templar. The Purifiers were surely Templar at heart as well beyond the slightest hint of a doubt, and templar seldom let their emotions loose so openly as he had observed so far, both on and off the battlefield. In fact from that what he seen so far they were more akin to... terrans in their behavior.

"Karax," Artanis turned to Karax's screen and upon being directly addressed was given his attention in return. "Do you think it is entirely possible that at one point the Judicators had experimented with terrans before Aiur was lost to the zerg?"

"What?! No! At the very least I dearly hope not! Even if they did they would have had to deactivate Cybros' stasis field first within the past century to say the least in order to place them within Cybros to begin with!"

"Artanis, though I do realize the Conclave has long since dissolved, the implications of what you are suggesting are no less unsettling to consider as a templar," Fenix gravely added.

"I know my friend," Artanis wearily added as he turn to Fenix's window. "But I cannot help but notice how odd they are acting."

"I see..."

"I concur, Hierarch."

"Hierarch," Coross interrupted, "shall we proceed with the destruction of the Null Circuits?"

Artanis temporally glanced down for a moment's worth of contemplation before answering Coross once more. "One moment Coross, I wish to address them first and determine their motives. I would rather not have you engage a three way battle if it can be helped."

"Understood. In the meantime we will warp in more warriors and bolster our position."

"Very good. Karax!" Artanis called as he turned to the phase-smith's transmission.

"I'm attempting to contact them as we speak. It's a little tricky. Whoever they are its as if their using a different—got it! Unfortunately the signal doesn't seem entirely compatible with our normal means of communication. Still I have a line to what appears to be their leader. I'm patching him through now."

A new screen popped up amongst the chaotic live stream feeds. There was no face or icon to it however. It was purely black save for what appeared to be a bar for an inactive sonograph in the middle.

"Uh, hello?" the new voice spoke, causing the middle line of the graph to tremble and contort with each syllable. "Hello, hello? Is this thing working? Or did I unknowingly activate a new function again—GET OFF ME YOU LITTLE FUCKER!"

Startled and stiffening because of the unexpected shout, Artanis glanced once more to the battlefield with the quiet hope of perhaps finding the reason behind said declaration. It took some effort but he did happen to spy a downed sentinel trying to keep a zergling from ripping into its body with one hand shoving the creature's face from its own whilst the other hand kept one of its extendable claw from slashing at it. Sadly all it did was barely mitigate the overall assault as every other limb sought to end the sentinel's life with savage zeal. It only ended when a stalker brought its particle disruptors to bear on the attacker. In the meantime in another screen a hybrid reaver had brought its heel to bear down on an unfortunate legless sentinel that was attempting to crawl away from its demise.

"DAMN IT! DO YOU KNOW HOW TERRIFYING THAT IS?! DIE ALREADY LIKE YOUR SUPER FUGLY BROTHERS!"

Curious, disturbing and distinctly terran though though it may be, regardless, upon further scrutiny it was the same region the hybrid had breached earlier. The behemoth and the other reaver had finally fallen some distance behind the remaining one and its zerg reinforcements, both of whom slowed by a literal line of photon cannons with a few just phasing in at that very moment. While a few still tore at the approaching zerg a number refocused specifically on the reaver specifically and unleashed hell as the terrans would say...

With renewed determination Artanis tore his gaze away from the screens to the sonograph that was now quietly muttering terran curses and vows of vengeance as if he had completely forgotten there was an active channel. Though to be fair war was one sure way to distract someone.

"Greetings commander of the sentinel forces of Cybros. This is Artanis, Hierarch of the Daeleem. To who am I addressing?"

"Wha?—Hel...?—Artanis? _The_ Artanis? Leader of the Protoss—OH HELL YOU GUYS ARE SNEAKY!" the voice barked and nervously laughed. "I didn't even see you guys come in! God dam—OH NO YOU DON'T! BURN!"

The Hierarch stiffened as he braced for the worst that this commander's dubious sanity deigned them a threat already. A quick glance toward Coross' communications line revealed it had shut down, likely so he could concentrate on bracing his forces for an assault. Like before Artanis spared a glance toward the live feeds and instantly found the no sentinels were charging toward the Daeleem base however much to his relief. A more careful glance thankfully revealed the most likely source of the apparent commander's ire: more hybrid. Another behemoth, another pair of reavers and even more destroyers. All cannons were focused on them as the standing forces fought all the harder to push back the zerg. All save the colossi however as they ascended nearby ledges to bypass the zerg and focus on the hybrid. As this was happening a drone of an older design came up behind the line and began to warp in what was undoubtedly more photon cannons to add to an already considerable line of them.

"I don't mean to interrupt nor initiate hostilities with you commander but time is of the essence. We have come to reactivate the Purifiers once more."

"Huh? Wha—Right! Sorry! It's a little hard to concentrate here, sorry! But yeah! You—wait, you didn't smash the Null Circuits yet? What are you waiting for—Wait! Look, I will hold the zerg off for you at any rate, period, no need to worry about that, but I would like something in return, please!"

"Name it and I'll see what I can do," Artanis replied as he quietly pondered what it was this strange commander wanted.

"Please warp me aboard your ship!"

"I'm sorry?" Artanis queried as he fought off the urge to blink owlishly at the sonograph in surprise. He didn't doubt in the least however that his confusion was no less visible upon his body however.

"Look I—uh... You got questions, I know. This is weird for me too! I'm willing to answer your questions later but for now let me say that I don't think the Purifiers would like me much once they wake up! As such I'd rather not be on their warpath when they get—MY HEAD IS NOT A SOCCER BALL DAMN—well that's twistedly better... I guess. Anyway! I'm paranoid that they'd lump me in the zerg here! So please, can you warp me aboard when they start fighting?"

Artanis' eyes flicked downward in thought before returning to the sonograph presented on the screens. "Allow me one question first before I agree to this," he all but demanded in return.

"Anything!"

"Are you and your cohorts in fact terrans?"

The sonograph went rigidly flat for a moment before fluctuating once more. "I _was_ a terran at least..."

Artanis nodded even though he doubted the terran, for lack of a better word given the circumstances, could actually see him if his previously interpreted insanity was anything to go by. On a related note it also begged the question as to how it seemed like he knew of the leader of the Daeleem, but that was for later, assuming of course he wasn't reading too much into it. "Very well. We will warp your forces aboard once the Purifiers are active once more!"

"_THANK YOU!_" the 'terran' cried.

"Coross!"

"Yes Hierarch?" Coross' image reappeared once more.

"Commence the assault on the Null Circuits! Aid these sentinels where you can!"

"Yes Hierarch!"

XVX

Cybros

So much information... So much information... it was like building my earlier nexus experiment all over again. I was every unit all at once. I was attacking all at once. I was standing guard all at once for a new enemy to appear at the very same time. I did not need to concentrate on a single unit in order for them to attack or stand guard... It was like playing the game itself. I merely had to 'set,' to will, an attack point and they, I, annihilate, eviscerate and immolate anything that was within range. I merely had to not dare charge into the territory beyond the gaping holes and my forces would stay whilst other wings attacked according to my will. Every blast from a cannon, every thrust of a psi blade, hop of a stalker, slap of metal on metal on a conveyor belt, every drone zipping in to warp in more buildings as various units made manifest errant thoughts and feelings being spawned in an instant and disappearing just as quickly, all of which being experienced at once in what should be an undecipherable mess of information... For all intents and purposes I was a cybernetic hive mind. Hell, I may as well be Ultron of the Starcraft-verse just for a simplified explanation of it all. I was every unit at once. I was them, and they were me...

... and there were no strings on me, _hehe!_ Eat your heart out James—

_KROOM!_

I KNEW THEY WOULDN'T GIVE UP THE NORTH FRONT SO EASILY!_** FUCK YOU NYDUS WORMS!**_

With no other forces available on short notice I had to leave the photon cannons behind as I had my once stationary forces charge the worms, all the while the freshest of reinforcements charged into nearby gateways to arrive at that emplacement's gateway to either replace the guard or join the latest counterattack. Mostly join. Sadly newly made colossi had to walk their way their if they weren't already en route to the already active fronts.

_Incoming transmission._

Hm?

"Commander," Artanis announce. Had I a body proper I would've jumped at the suddenness of it all. "Be warned that Fenix has detected a Purifier awakening on its own despite the Nullification Network still in place. Even so he believes the AI directing it has gone rogue. We are currently diverting a task force in hopes of either convincing it to join us or, if need be, destroy it. Either way you should be aware that it seemed to have activated on a platform where one of your colossi has perched itself."

"Thank you for the warning!"

_New contact attempting to establish connection. Allow? Y/N._

Here we go again. Who though—

_New contact aborted._

Wait, where'd it go?

"Mechanical but not an ally. Not a Purifier. Corrupted? Attempting to rectify: purging corrupted hosts."

Huh? Audio? Was that received audibly? Zerg snarling, screaming and dying aside, who would be talking?

_Zzap!_

OH COME ON!

In another section of the battlefield I swiveled the assaulted colossus about to face my newfound attacker and found a giant ro—THE WARDEN!

_Zzap!_

And his little servitors too! GAH!

Thermal lances lashed out against the floating statue only to score against the plasma shields. A glancing beam even nicked one of the probes just as it shot back as well. As it was it was basically two against one with an even worse disadvantage given our weaponry of single target beams compared to lasers with the intent to target groups instead. As such, much to my irritation but lack of surprise, it wasn't long before my colossus' plasma shield was beaten into submission and its chassis was being torn apart piece by piece. Sadly attempting to strafe had not only ruined my ability to aim but it didn't do jack against the warden's own targeting system.

_Incoming transmission._

"Commander, our forces are on their way to aid you. Just hold out a little longer."

As the warden and I continued to destroy each other the colossus' cameras caught something on the edge of our duel. It looked like a warp matrix activating. Yet it wasn't one! And it sure as hell wasn't one of mine! Whatever it and its four companion pieces were forming...

Ha! HAHA! Right! The Spear of Adun! The Reinforcement power, how'd I forget?

_BOOM-KEEEEER!_

_Critical Failure! Critical Failure!_ the screens of that particular colossus blared.

Crap.

_Incoming transmission._

One of the warden's shots hit an already severely weakened part of the armor and burst through to the delicate components within. In fact it hit the colossus' onboard power generator and caused it to rupture. The last I saw through that colossus' 'eyes' as it lost its balance thanks to the explosion from within was of a pair of zealots and dragoons bursting from the light just as a pylon finally materialized from nothing. From there a new set of lights burst forth in the immediate area surrounding the pylon. Sadly that was the last thing I saw through that unit before its demise. From there on I can only guess what happened; no unit was close enough to observe what was likely the fight taking place right now with the warden nor could I spare a colossus from this particular front nor the North conflict as the bug-like fuckers were spewing out of those worms like geysers! I mean come on! HOW CAN THEY FIT ULTRALISKS IN THERE TO BEGIN WITH!?

"My apologies commander... we were too late. But your ally will be avenged, that much I can promise."

_KROOM!_

Huh? More wor—NOT THE EAST FRONT TOO! I ONLY GOT A GHOST CREW THERE! _AAAARGH!_

... and in response to my distress a couple of probes dropped apparently. Even a sentinel in the safety of a base had dropped only to be pounding the ground with its head as I would in lieu of beating my head against the wall in frustration...

AT ANY RATE THOU—

_Incoming transmission._

"Commander," Artanis suddenly announced himself once more. Geez! I need to put a bell on that guy or something... "My forces are just about to breach the first set of Null Circuits. Though we do have an agreement, I hope you would be willing to leave the colossi here to help aid in the Purifiers' defense."

"Okay then. Ready when you are!" I answered in a heartbeat.

"Very well, and thank you."

_New contact attempting to establish connection. Allow? Y/N._

_Yes._

"This is Karax, phase-smith of the Spear of Adun," none other than my second favorite engineer spoke up. Sorry bud but you have no Bronx accent. "Your forces' signals have been locked on. We're warping aboard your forces... now!"

Everything that was neither a colossus or happened to be bolted down to the floor was bathed in a newfound and blinding light. Zealots, stalkers, arbalests and dragoons were ripped from the fight whether they were fighting or en route. The probes' automatic harvesting had ceased as they neither had a resource to collect or even a means to deposit it. Regardless of what they were they were doing they now stood idle in what appeared to be a newfound, bluer hanger as my attention was further divided than I was already use to. For the sake of simplicity I 'abandoned' my forces in the hangar in order to fight more effectively on Cybros. Well, 'abandoned' all but Fav, my favorite, and only one to be honest, master probe. Time to change that. For all intents and purposes I was effectively abandoning Cybros one way or another. In doing so however I would be effectively cut off from the resources I basically plundered from stored away caches I could find as well as the surprisingly yet to be exhausted platforms my bases were effectively guarding, and I don't necessarily mean losing my ability to harvest minerals and vespene.

The Nexus...si? Meh, I'm going with it. The Nexussi, or at least my nexussi, did more than just keep a link with other protoss, not that mine did apparently, or simply act as a hub for resource gathering, or even a production plant in my case. It was the storehouse. A storehouse, I learned through screwing around, that held its stores within what amounted to be a pocket dimension, or at least that's what I interpreted as much. Each and every probe merely had conditional access to it in order to function as the societal builders; tragically they couldn't 'access' the servitor probes that accidentally got sucked up into there when I got curious as to where all those resources went when it seemed like it should've been bursting with minerals and gas at the time, not sure why though. But that wasn't necessarily important... I developed something of a theory.

Granted I didn't play a lot of multiplayer matches but effectively speaking so long as one player had one worker then they're effectively still in the fight so long as they could build a new base regardless of how doomed that venture was at that point. That's where the theory starts though: if the situation deteriorates to the point that there is basically only one probe left yet can still build a base from scratch, then effectively that means this dimensional loot box, if you will, is a localized event for the given value of the word. At any rate what does that mean in the campaign mode where you always got a pittance of resources plus a nexus to start with at the very least? Was the distance too great from the Spear of Adun to the base too great to transfer the resources over? Or were they, the resources, basically used for, shall we say, maintenance and upkeep in between missions, thus justifying the limited resources? It would make sense with the Terran campaign at least. Maybe even the zerg. Or perhaps there wasn't a mobile nexus as it were to transfer those resources to? At any rate I wasn't going to be potentially left high and dry, so a new nexus! I hope Artanis and Karax won't mind too terribly. I might as well build another master probe while I'm at it, just in case.

_New Contact attempting to—Override in progr—_

"Who are you that commands the bodies resembling our brothers?"

_HOLY SHIT!_ Artanis I can understand but how the fuck did he... wait, override? Oh shit... please tell me they can't just take me over!

"Answer me or you will be treated as a hostile alongside these aliens!"

"I-aughwaha... I'm not an enemy!" I exclaimed! Oh how I wish I got the whole 'lacking emotions' bit Momon got in Overlord (the anime!) for situations like these! I suck when I get agitated! "I didn't even come here on my own free will to begin with!"

I couldn't see whoever this guy's face is but I knew for a fact that I could _feel_ his eyes narrowing at me. Not at a sentinel or turret but _me-me_ like he has a direct line of sight on my soul! _Gack!_

"Explain yourself then."

"Uhhh..."

_Incoming transmission. Requesting to join conversation. Approved by administrator._

"Clolarion, if I may interject," Artanis interrupted, coming to my rescue. THANK YOU! "While I admit I do not know who they are or how they came to be awake and active aboard Cybros while the stasis field was active, but they have been holding the zerg back at their own expense so our own forces can release your brothers from captivity. They even agreed to allow some of their forces to be left behind to aid in your defense. Please, allow them at least some clemency for their sacrifices."

"... They? As in plural?" Clolarion asked. It took his name to jog my memory in regards to his mechanical body yet even so I could still _feel_ him squinting at _me_ in utter suspicion. "Is that what he told you?"

"No," I blurted out before I had the arguably better idea to _shut the hell up_!

"I'm afraid I don't understand..." Thankfully Artanis was still in his diplomatic mode... I would like to say that's good but considering I'm in the crossfire I'm biting nails here—hey! Stop that! You don't even have a mouth! Honestly the slightest thought/feeling can effect some of these sentinels. I need to control that too lest I look like an utter maniac. _Augh_...

_Clang!_

And probe plopped down on the ground to enact my desire to bang my head against it or a wall, again. Great.

"_They_ as you have dubbed 'them' are of one mind. One sentience. There is no other than one entity that controls each of these bodies and even the buildings now riddled throughout the bridge of Cybros."

That was the bridge? Looked more like an extensive workroom to me. Then again some of those consoles _did_ look official. Couldn't access them though... that or I did but the fact that I couldn't make heads or tails of their written language despite ironically possessing a protoss engineered body and I was simply clicking all the wrong buttons that otherwise did nothing... as far as I know at least. While big read protoss letters and angry beeping blared at me every time I did something at a console...

... I didn't set off the protoss equivalent of a nuke by accident or the self destruct sequence at some point, did I?

"Be that as it may, Executor, that doesn't change the fact that they... that _he_ has aided us in your defense both before and after our arrival however . Even now his forces are lending aid to your forces and mine as we speak."

Yep. Burn, burn, burn and I'm the one who—damn it, lost another colossus. I will have my revenge you hybrid bastard!

"That must be worth at least some consideration, executor."

There was a notable silence despite the active war my colossi were partaking in where the zerg were finally being pushed back now that the purifiers proper had joined in.

"Very well. But he too shall aid us in purifying this alien threat. This is not negotiable."

"I understand," Artanis agreed.

"You might, hierarch, but does he? Swear to it, _outsider_."

If I had teeth they would be gnashing at this point. As if I didn't get enough of this kind of crap in customer service... "I _will_ aid in the extermination of the zerg in Cybros." Take that answer and choke on it, jackass.

"Good."

_Clolarion has left the conversation._

Ugh... apparently you don't need a body to be stressed out by assholes. Fucker.

"Commander."

"ACK!"

_Clang-clang-clang-kang!_

... and half my infantry plus a number of probes are on the floor now. Grea—_AW!_ I SCRATCHED UP FAV! THE PLASMA SHIELDS SERIOUSLY COULDN'T HOLD UP TO A _FUCKING WALL_?!

"... I'm sorry to have startled you but I feel I must inform you that I will keep you to your word in regards to my questions."

"Uh, right. Sorry, just a little stressed here... Right. Sorry. (_Clears my 'throat' once more_) When do you want to ask them?"

"After this battle has been concluded," Artanis firmly stated. "Until then, commander."

_Conversation concluded._

... ugh...

_(Soft) Clang._

... I wonder how long it'll be before the Purifiers are fully up and operational? Let's see... Three sets down and now they're working on the last two of the remaining set—oh wait. One now. Didn't see anything break that one down. Dark Templar perhaps? Despite my efforts the zerg _did_ encroach there after all and began to set up a base. And now there goes the last Null Circuit in I'm guessing three, two, one.

Boom. Called it. Now to mop up the leftovers.

Gah! Corruptors! Keep away from my colossi! Shoo! Go away! Here, eat some photon blasts! Mehhehheh, that'll teach ya...

Alright now to redirect the rest on the stragglers. Might be pointless now what with the new set of Purifiers joining the fight and bulldozing their way through. Meh. Might as well for the sake of a token effort. Come along little colossi!

Maybe I should make a few more units? Nah. I'm moving out anyway. That does beg the question though, would I still be able to 'feel' them as it were even at a great distance? Would I be disconnected if I didn't put too much of an effort in maintain an effort? Or would it be a case where I would be stuck on Cybros whilst I get disconnected with my army? Not an appealing prospect I might add. Or is my consciousness directly tied to Fav considering I woke up in his, as oppose to its, body and as such my consciousness and control is directly proportional to his presence? Or, God forbid should it happen, will I effectively die if he dies? I'll be honest, any way I go I'm not that eager to find out.

_Connection lost._

... what? Ugh... _Clarify._

... _Explain._

... _Repeat last message._

_Message repeat: Connection lost._

Time to go text adventure in this bitch... _Clarify: Connection lost._

...

Okay, what the hell happened? Let's do a quick check: Fav, check. Probes, check. Sentinels, check. Stalkers, check. Dragoons, check. Colossi... none? What the—... No. No no! No no no no no no no no no no no no no!

TURRETS! _None active._

GATEWAYS! _None active._

BAYS! _None active._

NEXUSSI! _One active._ ONE? YES, ONE! WHERE WHERE WHERE—HERE? ON THE ADUN?!

... _HOW THE FUCK DID I LOSE MY CYBROS BASE?!_ _**IT WAS JUST THERE A SECOND A GO!**_

A flash of light.

All units turned in the direction of the open 'window' that made up the side of the hanger I was in. Cybros was active. It's attack configuration was deployed and firing at that very moment. The planet below was burning.

... Clolarion overridden my apparent little safeguards with the chat alone... Override. He Override. He Override. Override. Override. Override. OverrideOverrideOverrideoverrideoverrideoverride—

_Clang!_

_Clang-clang!_

_Clang-clang—_

XVX

War Hangar Subsection Four, The Spear of Adun

When Artanis arrived with an escort of zealots he stopped dead at the sight of what he briefly thought in horror as a massacre. Almost all the sentinels were on the ground or sitting with their arms wrapped around their legs as they rocked back and forth in their spots. A scant few were feebly trying to get back up only to fall back down repeatedly. Even fewer were still standing. Unfortunately this included the stalkers and dragoons too as well. Sadly this didn't make for a better scene. What didn't stand stock still were clutching at their heads and wailing in pure terror straight from the soul as if beset by a cosmic horror, a cry shared by some of their more afflicted comrades. Others were sobbing as if they had their wills broken or told some terrible truth, neither of which hampered in the least by the digitized application to their voices. Not even their four legged counterparts were immune to this as more than a few were desperately trying to replicate their more conventionally limbed brethren in all their states. Only handful of these machines however were speaking however. They were speaking one phrase and one phrase only over and over and over again at a speed which made it all the harder to hear even with its repetition...

XVX

Idon'twannadieattheclickofaswitch. Idon'twannadieattheclickofaswitch. Idon'twannadieattheclickofaswitch...


	3. F'n backwater

**I do not own either Starcraft nor Overlord the anime... (Cries.) For that matter any other characters/material/etc that may or may not show up belong to their respective owners... whomever that might be. This story is for entertainment purposes only after all.**

**Rated M mostly as a precaution... that and I may be using the word fuck enough times to not only warrant it but potentially ruin it.**

Journey through Universes: Of Metal and Bones

Chapter Three: Fucking backwater...

Solar Core, Spear of Adun, hours later

Between the wrongs brought upon them by the Templar of ages past and their... uninvited guest, all things considered it was a miracle the Purifiers were willing to join forces with the growing armada assembled from what was still free or had been freed from Amon's corrupt touch. Sadly even with the addition of the Purifiers they, this free fleet of Khalai, Nerazim and the Tal'darim, were still lacking when compared to the Golden Armada's numbers. Sadly, this newfound alliance with the Purifiers was tenuous at least given the only matter at hand that had yet to be fully properly addressed: the one dubbed "The Commander" for lack of a given name. Their terms were as clear as they were almost contradictory: he was to be kept as far away from the Purifiers as possible lest he somehow come to the notion that he could at least start and succeed what the Judicator Council had attempted to do in the past. Yet at the same time given what he was he couldn't be left alone either for that very same reason. To make matters worse they did have records of him attempting to access Cybros' mainframe, providing at least some credibility toward their suspicions. Thankfully it would appear that basic security measures were enough to not only stop him but seemingly dissuade him from further attempts.

Regardless, even with the consideration that the terran was perhaps curious about his own abilities or even how he came to be in his position to begin with the Purifiers were adamant to having 'The Commander' under observation at all times. For better or worse however that wasn't much of an option as the battle of Revanscar had sorely tested: with their forces divided the maddened terrans had done significant damage to the Spear of Adun, costing them both a great amount of resources in repairs and able bodies in the end between the boarding parties, the reckless abandon of their warships that claimed both protoss and terran life alike and the defense forces both Karax and his own task force had to contend with. With what was on the horizon it was only a matter of time before such a situation rose once more... a scenario the Purifiers begrudgingly agreed with given the Zerg undoubtedly still on Aiur and the Golden Armada that will undoubtedly come in all haste once the first strike against the heart of Amon's operations has been dealt. As such a compromise had been reached... one that, though accepted as a temporary measure, did not earn him any favors from the Purifiers...

Now all that remained was to rouse The Commander from his apparent malaise and ideally reason with him. Ideally. Unfortunately Artanis couldn't help but understand it if the cyberdized terran would be recalcitrant once it was apparent of his soon to be, ideally temporary, internment. Before then however it would be best to break him out of his mood first if there was any hope of him peacefully accepting this... proposition.

For now though some caution must be observed. While he was tempted to simply entered the War Hangar that housed The Commander's now dormant, though lifelessly disarrayed, forces as he had originally intended, there was no guarantee he would be of a reasonable state of mind should he be successfully roused. As sad as it was it was with this sense of precaution that several teams of templar warriors, immortals and even reavers were not only guarding the only access points to the hangar but were either ready to simply charge in or on standby to warp into the bay should the situation call for it. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. He even had Karax and a handpicked team of phase-smiths at the ready to counter any attempt to take over the Spear of Adun's electronic systems as the Purifiers had feared. "Karax, are we ready to begin?"

"On your command, Hierarch," Karax dutifully replied.

"Very well. Please initiate contact with him right away."

"As you will."

The moment Karax placed his hand upon the console and depressed a holographic button a black screen appeared, all but framing a blinking, circling icon indicating the hail had yet to be accepted as opposed to immediately going through an already established channel. A deliberate move so as to not overly startle the mechanized terran. Even so he couldn't help but wonder as to how long they would half to wait, both out of curiosity and a self admitted impatience to meet the coming battle ahead...

Thankfully this small moment of eternity was blessedly short as a sonograph once more dominated the otherwise empty field.

"... hello...?" the voice drawled as somberly as the mood projected by his dormant and listless army that had yet to properly extradite itself from the floor. "Artanis, is that you? Or is this Karax? Or someone else?" he drawled once more with a tired sigh.

Taking a moment to cast an aside glance to Karax Artanis carefully made sure his telepathy wasn't connected with the communications system. "So he indeed cannot see us?"

"It appears not Hierarch," Karax replied. "In fact from what I had managed to observe in passing I'm beginning to speculate that this terran was somehow lodged into what could either be a prototype version of the Purifier's operating system or perhaps a variant of which. Unfortunately without a more in depth investigation I can only offer conjecture at this point."

"I see. Thank you Karax." With renewed determination Artanis brought his attention back to the sonograph resting idly on the screen before him. "Yes, it is I, Commander. How are you if I may ask?" he announced.

"Commander? I'm not..." The bar went flat for a moment. "Oh right. I guess you wouldn't know my name or something like that, right?"

"Indeed I do not know. Not even the Purifiers for that matter. Nor do we, us and the Purifiers, know how you came to be... for all intents and purposes it may as well seem as if you just spontaneously came into being without either history as a previous identity, purposeful creation or even being the culmination of errant programs merging into one entity if such a thing were possible."

"... please don't mention the Purifiers... it's too soon..."

Artanis simply stared at the sonograph in confusion. His... aversion set aside for the moment, he could've sworn he saw the sonograph quake in a manner not typically associated with their representation. Movement to the side briefly drew his attention to Karax who dutifully tended to the console with professional fascination. Perhaps it wasn't solely his imagination after all then.

"I'm sorry," the Hierarch broached carefully, "but I feel I must ask... did something happen between you and the Purifiers after you came aboard? From what we've inferred, you've been in turmoil since they activated Cybros' primary weapons system."

There was a a sharp scoff and an unnervingly mad, mirthless giggle that escaped the commander's portrait. "Hey, have you ever had the realization that something can kill you and you don't even have the luxury of screaming in horror for all the good it would do you? That you're life can just go "poof!" and you never even realized you died before you saw the first twitch of movement?" The terran giggled again for his own sake if nothing else. "I _kne~w_ they wouldn't like me much but here I thought they might simply take pot shots at me. But no! No-no-no-no-no-no." He giggled again. "At first they _override_ whatever counts as my security and hack into my little comms channel without me being able to stop them. Then, before I even knew it, I lost _everything_ I had that was still in Cybros before I even knew it was missing. "Poof!" Gone! My colossi, my buildings, _everything_ just gone before I realized my connection to them was severed. It do~esn't take much to figure out they can just do the same with what I have left. That it_ do~esn't_ mean they can't go "bye-bye", flick a switch and just watch me die before I can scream... _Heh. Hehhehheh. Heheh_—"

"Karax."

Both the Hierarch's head and the phase-smith's head snapped over to the latter's colleague who was seemingly observing another screen even as he pressed a button on his own respective console. Soon enough a new screen joined the sonograph portrait just as the terran began to ramble half coherent thoughts.

"I mean I just went to bed and "boom!" I'm a probe! How'd I turn into a probe?! What if I lose connection to that probe? Do I die? Do I become trapped in cyberspace or something? Will I be a prisoner in an endless void—?"

On this screen was a live feed of the War Hangar the Commander's forces were residing in. They were once more acting out in the same disturbing fashion as before...

"Commander," Artanis stated firmly as to grab his attention. Thankfully it worked, though some of the sentinels were still twitching.

"Huh? Wh—no, it's Jack. Jack, Jack, Jack..." The terran then absentmindedly giggled a more genuinely mirthful giggle, addled as it was though. "Huh. To think I'm a letter and a ottsel short from having the bare basics..."

"I'm sorry?"

"Huh? S-sorry. Just a little... loopy here. Sorry." The terran uncomfortably cleared his throat. Curious. If what was learned was true then how was he able to, for lack of a better word, recreate a clearly terran sound that clearly relied on now missing parts of his anatomy? A form of idiosyncrasy perhaps that was carried over? Even so, how was it possible? Then again if he were to ask that then he would have to question as to why the Purifiers rebelled in the first place—just because they lacked their original forms they were no less templar than their original forbearers; for though they had bodies of metal their souls were of warriors, not mindless automatons; to deny them their existence as individuals to be recognized was to forsake his friend Fenix as well as to alienate the terran named Jack in one sweeping move. "So... what did you need?"

"I would like any information as to how you came to be there in Cybros. Of how you came to be if you can."

There was a pregnant pause.

"... I have no fucking clue to be honest."

"Surely there must have been something to hint to a cause," Artanis offered. If he could he could've frowned with mild disappointment.

"I'm sorry but all I know is that about... two weeks ago I went to bed after staying up late and then... I guess you could say I woke up. Sort of. Just... I wasn't sleeping any more. I didn't wake up but I wasn't sleeping any more... It was... dark... and... well I kind of noticed I didn't have a body anymore and started to panic. Then 'boom,' next thing I know I'm inhabiting what's called a Master Probe."

"A Master Probe?" Artanis questioned. "I'm afraid I have never heard of it." he turned to the phase-smith. "Karax, have you heard of it?"

"I have Hierarch. They are ultimately an experimental type of probe, one that was designed so it could be self sufficient in the absence of a Nexus Point equipped with an equally experimental warping technology intricately designed to create structures and even observers as opposed to simply opening a gate to effectively teleport a fabricated structure to the intended point of deployment."

XVX

Wait, that was how they did that? I always thought it was whatever it was I was doing. Huh.

XVX

"Sadly however while the base functions of the probe are feasible and reliable, this construction variant of warping technology has thus far proven to be unstable more often than not. Often with explosive results I might add. As such the only time any templar or even any phase-smith for that matter would see a master probe it is because they are tinkering with it in some fashion."

"I see." The Hierarch turned back to the portrait bearing the sonograph. "Am I to assume then that you have been using this master probe then to build the defenses found within Cybros' bridge?"

"Yes. At least until I started making more regular probes. From there they been pretty much doing the grunt work for my bases and outposts while I experimented with making a couple of units. Turns out that the master probe has to be nearby while the warp is active for that matter... Actually both the master and the regular probes had that problem now that I think about it. It was kind of annoying really..."

"I'm sorry for interrupting but are you certain?" Karax interjected much to the surprise of everyone with a sense of decorum. Yet no one stopped him, especially once Artanis held up his hand to stop such a notion from taking place. "That there was no connection to other worlds or bases to transport a completed version of your projects?"

"Uh... no. None that I observed."

"What about disruptions; Abrupt cancelations? Unexpected explosions? Unfinished creations or even compromised materials that would endanger the construct in question?"

"Uh, no? None that I observed anyway. Well the warp 'balls' if you will destabilized and sputtered out whenever a probe scooted too far from it but that's about it."

"Interesting! I never heard of such a stable version before! I would very much like to observe it should the opportunity arise!"

"Uh... okaaaay then..."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Karax, friend Jack, but I feel it pertinent as to know _why_ you felt it necessary to build such an extensive base as you did. Why you made yourself an army."

The terran became silent... When no answer seemed forthcoming Artanis pushed on.

"From what the Purifiers had observed and were willing to share with us, you had been there for no less than fourteen of Endion's cycles—"

"Cycles?" the terran abruptly asked.

"Yes. Cycles. I believe terrans would better know them as "days," the hierarch calmly offered.

"Oooh. Thank you. Sorry for interrupting you..."

"Your apology is accepted. Even so, you had considerable amount of time to have potentially unlocked Cybros from within. Failing that, if you truly felt confined you would have little to stop you from outright assaulting Cybros from within and forcing your way out if you truly felt trapped. Instead you simply entrenched yourself and amassed your forces for an assault upon your defenses. Had the zerg not have had the hybrid with them it would have been very likely that you could've fought your way out through the openings the zerg had made. Yet not once have you made an effort to take the fight to them beyond your immediate defense, much less escape. You were waiting for something, weren't you?"

The terran still remained silent...

"Or were you waiting for some_one_?"

... a snort was heard over the line. Another sounded out as did another in what sounded like a muted defeated laugh.

"Yeah, I was..."

"Who then?"

"... I was waiting for you, Artanis."

Every able soul stood a little straighter, eyes narrowing out of suspicion, or in the hierarch's specific case curiosity marked with caution. "Would you be so kind as to explain what you mean by that?"

The sonograph went distinctly flat for but a moment. "All my answers sound nothing less than crazy just so you know."

"Considering you already knew why we were there in the first place, of the horrors visited upon my people, the allies we had gained and the paths we committed ourselves to in order to prevent the end of all things I believe you'll find me hard to faze."

"... let me test that then." Artanis' eyes narrowed a little further in response. "How many terrans would you say know about the dead Xel'naga entombed in the Rift when you entered it with Kerrigan?"

Every single soul's body went rigid upon hearing that news. Some of the few that weren't originally looking to the sonograph's portrait near mechanically turned to stare at it. Some eyes narrowed into a heated glare, others widened in terrible surprise as was Artanis' case. "It wouldn't be common knowledge, or so I assume," he reluctantly admitted.

"Would the same be said the Xel'naga venture into new universes, instill life in them and await for those deemed to have "purity of form" and "purity of essence" to come to them in order to birth new xel'naga?"

Artanis hesitated for but a moment. "I would say the same. Perhaps less so as such information might potentially cause more strife for Amon by those who may misunderstand what it is the xel'naga considered pure."

"And Rohana, the Grand Preserver, is she still caged due to her connection with the Khala?"

Artanis didn't answer as he looked to the other phase-smiths, some of whom were looking back in a stupor as they tried to puzzle out how a supposed terran knew any of this. Not even the Purifiers were informed of any of this no less than a few hours prior at the most, and he did have the slightest doubt in that their animosity toward the terran would let them grant him _some_ knowledge of what was happening in the very least. Whoever he is or was, he is not... normal at all, his bizarre circumstances aside. Regardless it would seem that at least some of them caught the intent of his gaze and began to religiously scan through the systems for any potential breaches that occurred between his arrival and now.

After a few moments he knew his answer.

"No, she is not anymore," Artanis admitted as he turned to the screen.

"Ah..." the voice murmured if only to acknowledge what was told. "One last question then."

"I'm listening..."

"... did Karax prepare the Keystone to draw out Amon's presence once the host body is destroyed yet?"

"You know of our plan then..." Artanis' eyes narrowed anew...

"Yes."

"You know what it is we fight and why."

"Yes."

The hierarch stared at the portrait... "Do you know then who it was that freed me from Amon's grasp?"

"... Zeratul, at the cost of his own life in the end."

The entirety of the core was silent enough that even a pin drop could be heard over the thrumming of the ship's heart.

"What are you, Jack?"

The sonograph was flat for the longest time before the answer finally came. "Someone who does not belong here in every sense of the word. I am as much a stranger to you as I am to the entirety of your universe, only with the perverse advantage of knowing your story when it was considered fiction..."

XVX

I think I channeled a wee bit of Zeratul there...

XVX

"... frankly I just want to go back to being a normal human and go back home... That's why I stayed in Cybros and kept myself from monkeying around it too much. I knew that eventually you would come for the Purifiers to ask them to join against this universal threat poised to annihilate everything Amon views as "wrong" with the Infinite Cycle. I figured that if I was to have any hope of turning back to normal then it would be the very people who inadvertently made this... this existence I am now stuck in either through technology or, if push came to shove, your powers..."

"Please... I'm begging you," the voice suddenly cracked—

XVX

_(Eyes would've watered if they could.)_

XVX

"I don't even want to _be here_, much less _like I am now!_ Please, please help me!" the terran choked out. In fact it wouldn't have been much of a stretch to the templar that if he could the digitized terran would've been crying by now. Even so Artanis continued to intently stare at the sonograph as it settled down, yet instead of becoming flat it wavered still as if making sounds he nor any other protoss could not hear.

"I see," he finally stated after a few moments. "And what is to happen if we somehow fail in aiding you in this quest of yours? What do you plan to do should you remain like this?"

"I have absolutely no fucking clue..." Jack admitted. When there was no elaboration Artanis nodded despite the futility of it given the situation at hand.

"I see."

XVX

_Please let there be no dramatic pause. Please let there be no dramatic pause. Please don't let there be a dramatic pause... this is killing me enough as it is!_

XVX

"Very well then."

XVX

_(Fingers would be crossed if they could) ..._

XVX

"We will assist you where we can in this endeavor."

"_REALLY?!_" the terran jubilantly cried.

"Yes we will," Artanis calmly replied as his eyes softened to a stern stare. "However as you can imagine we cannot spare the time at the moment. As we speak we are on course for Aiur to begin our most critical battle that will ultimately decide the fate of the universe whether we succeed or fail. As such we need as many of our forces ready to fight on multiple fronts at a moment's notice."

"I understand," the terran solemnly replied.

""With that in mind I'm afraid I need to ask something of you..."

XVX

Hm? "Do you want me to join your forces?"

XVX

"Admittedly that would be ideal," Artanis practically sighed. "Sadly that is not to be. As you had predicted the Purifiers are not welcome to your presence." He momentarily paused as the portrait unnaturally wavered once more, an act keenly observed by the phase-smiths, before continuing. "Because of this they are not willing to have you fight alongside them or the rest of our forces, much less have you within the same theater of war we are to operate in if it can be helped."

XVX

_Oh dear god. (Bile would rise up in my throat out of fear if it could.)_

XVX

"They are however are willing to be at peace with you be should you be willing to cooperate with a compromise we reached."

"... what's the compromise?" the digital terran hesitantly broached.

"Kronon."

Once more a sense of silence ensued within the room bearing the Solar Core. Eventually it was broken as it eventually would. "I... don't quite grasp the significance of that."

The Hierarch's gaze grew as curious as it was confused and concerned. "I was under the impression that you were."

"... From the beginning of the Zerg's official invasion into the former Confederacy's domain, its fall and the rise of the Terran Dominion in its place to the final defeat of Amon, _that_ is what I know. Or at least I know the major parts of it. More tangent stories however I am at best partly aware. Kronon isn't one of them."

"I see..." Artanis paused as he considered that for a moment.

"Kronon is what terrans would call a gas giant. One not conducive to life as we know it. Or rather more conventional life as we know it to support either the protoss or the terrans to be more accurate, especially my people in particular."

"Why is that?" Jack queried.

"Namely it is the nature of the planet itself: its gases are far too dense to allow the light of its nearest sun to properly penetrate it. Nor is there any water to be consumed on the planet's surface, effectively starving out any protoss who would come ill prepared for the venture. It's worse than that however. Those same gases which blot out the sun have a rather unique pervasive quality to them that conventional plasma shields cannot effectively prevent from slipping through its filtration systems and choking the life of the protoss in question when they try to breath in fresh air."

XVX

Plasma shields have a filtration system? Huh. Then again if they can keep space from outright killing them on space platforms and the like...

XVX

"To make matters worse none of our engineers have managed to devise a system to prevent modified plasma shields from effectively isolating its wearers from the reality of their circumstances; these modified shields are impermissible toward all substances that would normally filter through: air, light, water, even sound. Any protoss found within such a shielding system would not only be forced to starve and suffocate to death so long as they employ the shield in the long run, but they would be vulnerable to that which they cannot see nor warned about."

"So your saying you can't send anyone on there without killing them before long no matter how you go about it?"

"That is correct," Artanis confirmed.

"What about warping your troops to and from the planet?"

Artanis shook his head. "Unfortunately we had tried that already. No matter how precise the process is the warping of a body or an object from one place to another can and will bring traces of the environment they were in with them. In individual cases such a small amount of gas wouldn't bring much harm on its own in an open space within the confines of a ship. However large contingents for even small contingents of warriors, even in a relatively peaceful habitat, such a process would be inefficient. Not only would they have to account for entire groups being absent at a time for rest and nourishment but teleporting them en masse, even with precise teleportation, would release large amounts of the hazardous material within a confined space. Even with a rotational schedule between a multitude of ships their air purification systems _will_ eventually be overwhelmed and endanger not only the warriors on duty but the crews as well."

"... what about the warp gates?"

"Sadly that hadn't proved feasible either. When they are in use gateways are essentially open doors. Numerous environments had been poisoned because of this. Some more irreparable than others..."

"What about space platforms?"

Artanis perked in mild befuddlement. "Space platforms?" His eyes brightened in recognition. "Ah. You mean installations much like the Sky Shield above the Dominion's capital planet of Korhal."

"Yes. That."

"I'm afraid that the empire as a whole never found much use for such a notion. As such such an option had not been considered to my knowledge at least."

"Ah... so... is there something you wanted me to do on Kronon or is it basically my house arrest as it were?"

"I'm sorry but what do you mean by?" Artanis inquired with what would've been a raised brow if he had such to utilize.

"Huh?"

"What is this "House Arrest" you speak of?"

XVX

... you're joking, right?

XVX

"... instead of being placed within an area of confinement typically associated for causing a punishable offense by rule of law the offender is confined to a more familiar and comfortable environment. Typically their place of habitation and the like."

"Ah. Thank you for the explanation," Artanis hummed before turning back to the original question. "To answer your question... It is unfortunate but yes, I do have an assignment for you if you are willing to heed me."

"... what is it?"

"To simply put it would be of immense and invaluable aid if you were to collect much needed resources for us and transfer them to us before and during this battle. As we stand now we would unfortunately have to scrape by with whatever it is we salvage or mine on Aiur, under duress from the enemy no less."

"Right..." The terran paused for a moment. "... will I at least be able to mine resources for my own self to at least set up defenses?"

"Yes. You will. While it is marginally out of the way, it is not unreachable by the Golden Armada should Amon learn of your involvement. Thankfully between the attack of his Host Body and what we have planned he won't be able to send more than the fringe's worth of expeditionary force at the most whilst the full might is brought down upon the Daeleem's last stand. As such you should be relatively safe there from at least most threats."

XVX

I guess I don't have much a choice then if I want to create any good will...

XVX

"I'll help you then."

"Thank you," Artanis murmured with solemn hospitality.

"Now if you'll excuse me we will need to make a correction to our course before it is too late."

"Alright then..."

"One moment if you will Hierarch," Karax suddenly interrupted, startling all those present. "If I may, is it possible that we can observe the diagnostics of your probes, Jack? While we might not be able to implement the technology in the immediate future, I would like to see if there is any potential benefits that can be gleened with the technology under your employ."

"Uh... sure?"

Karax turned to the Hierarch of the Daeleem with pleading eyes rather reminiscent to what a terran would call a "dog" whenever it was begging. He wasn't sure how to feel about that... "Very well then. But do keep in mind that there won't be much time before we arrive at Kronon."

"I understand Hierarch," the phase-smith acknowledged with a respectful nod.

"Right then," the terran spoke up, "do I just show myself to the... engineering bay or...?"

"For the sake of everyone's peace of mind I will arrange for an escort to an acceptable facility," Artanis interjected before anyone else could. "Now, if there is anything else...?" When no one either spoke up or made a move worth special significance he nodded to himself. "Very well then. I leave you all to your duties then."

"Right."

"Understood, Hierarch."

The portrait winked out on its own accord as further murmurs and even bows of acknowledgement were presented to him. With a nod of acknowledgement of his own he made his way to the only door that connected the Solar Core from the rest of the ship. Before he was close enough to cross the threshold however he came to a stop to the only other occupant of the room who by far and large had not reacted as outwardly emotionally as the others as well as kept his silence.

"Fenix, I would ask of you a favor."

"To escort him I presume?" the purifier asked, his visor and decorative gems-like facets above both his visor and sitting in the middle of his chest flashing to help indicate that he was indeed talking.

"Indeed. And, if possible, keep an eye on him where you can," Artanis both confirmed and elaborated.

"You do not trust him then?" All four of his legs took a step closer toward the middle so Fenix would present himself at attention.

"It's not quite that," Artanis all but muttered. "If anything I would like to see if you can somehow confirm what he knows... Admittedly a part of me wishes to exploit what he could possibly know to arm ourselves with every advantage we can muster. But doing so could prove to be potentially disastrous, especially if he is indeed either as mad as I quietly fear or worse yet an agent of Amon."

"I understand. I will assemble a team at once and personally escort this terran's... probes to the Solar Core then, unless you prefer one of the workshops or forges of course."

Artanis nodded. "Thank you my friend. I hope nothing ill comes from this."

"Not if I have anything to say about it, old friend," Fenix assured him as he raised his blades up for emphasis.

With his piece said Artanis finally turned and left the Solar Core with an escort of two armored zealots following his wake.

XVX

Outer Space, Romus System, eight hours later

My hangar became a little more crowded in a short while. Not in the traditional sense mind you. Warp Prisms now floated about here and there, hovering above my forces. I'd say there are about forty of them. Should be enough to transport what remained of my force of 345, probes included. Including those two that got sucked up in my resource network! Turns out I just lacked the proper system to get them out! Thanks Karax! Interestingly enough it was based on the same system that permitted the digitization of their flesh and blood protoss to 'enter' the warp prisms and 'exit' as well... at least that's how I understood it. It was like getting a crash course in astrophysics... At any rate I made it a point for future reference that it only worked on the protoss; out of everything they built they were _not keen_ on letting terrans have this particular technology. That and Karax wasn't quite sure if it actually worked on terrans. Namely for a worse case scenario when a warp prism is shot down but is essentially still active, yet can't dislodge its cargo, built in beacons on Protoss units as well as personal psi signatures helped keep a careless phase-smith called into service from accidentally 'deleting' them... _(Shudder.)_

_Incoming transmission._

"Greetings Jack," Artani—HOLY SHIT I CAN SEE HIM! I'm starting to regret that overhaul from Karax less and less! I still wish he was less giddy about it though... That and the whole experience to feel far less like a trip to the dentist's office. On my brain no less. _Guah..._ "We are now on approach to Kronon's orbit. In a matter of moments we will begin boarding procedures and depart for the planet."

"Right."

... and it is now that I realize that I had not once seen any warp prisms for the player to use in the Legacy of the Void campaign. Story and game play segregation I guess.

"We're warping your forces aboard, now!"

Alright then—"WOAH!" This is weird! This. Is. Weird!

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine! I'm fine It's just a little strange for me! Kind of like being stuffed into a glove here!"

"I'm sorry but what is a glove?"

... Artanis, you're killing me.

"... a garment meant to cover the hand to either keep it warm or protect it from harm."

"Ah. I see. Terrans have such fascinating inventions."

... Alright, house arrest was one thing since for all I know they aren't that cush toward even their most useful/indomitable of offenders/political prisoners/etc... for the templar perhaps? Did the Dark Templar share similar views? No bets on the Tal'darim though; the vanguard and blood hunter units should be evidence enough of what they think of their variation of delinquents...

At any rate... it's kind of dark in here. And confined. Didn't think I'd 'feel' that, period. Maybe it's the AI operating the 'ship'. That or the fact that I'm still connected to my nexus is providing enough of a contrast to make it as weird as it 'felt'... I have no fucking clue. It's weird and we're going with that! End of story!

"We're beginning the descent now!"

... bye-bye army me! So long pyramid-shaped me! ... _snerk._

... I might need help if this keeps up.

At any rate... the wait...

... any minute now.

... just waiting for the light to turn green.

... and there isn't so much as a janitor for my nexus' sensors to pick up on to idly, if creepily, stare at in lieu of twiddling my thumbs.

... Sitting in the morning sun. I'll be sitting when the evening comes. Watching the ships roll in. And I'll be watchin'—FINALLY! "WHEEEEE!"

Almost instantaneously the entirety of my army, probes included, were practically chucked out of the warp prisms. Already my units were spreading out in mild exploration or clogging up natural choke points to what was doubtlessly my base given the mineral field in plain view. One vespene geyser too for that matter. Regardless of this as soon as each prism was completely unloaded they made their way to the stars beyond the milky and foggy clouds that is apparently Kronon's atmosphere.

_Incoming transmission._

"As soon as you are ready commander."

"Right! Let me just set it up!"

_Bzztzz! Bzztzz! Bzz—_

Construction matrix after construction matrix began to dot the landscape. A nexus, assimilator, a gateway for later use, a _updated_ forge and a cybernetics core just to name the basics. One wasn't the usual assortment to be seen in a base however. This one Karax outright had to dig up with a shovel, blow the dust off and give a spit shine in particular after the Purifiers evidently forked it over under great reluctance. The Astral Gate. The love child of a gateway and a stargate. Whereas the protoss in general have their psionic matrix to move their absorbed goods beyond the reach of a would-be thief's hands at a moment's notice, my constructor matrix was unique to only the Purifiers and I. _We_ 'could' trade resources with one another _(provided of course they don't kill me)_, but can we trade with the other factions? No. The technology just wasn't compatible. At least not yet. Shipments would have to be done the old fashion way. Well, old fashion by protoss standards...

Where gateways were built with soldiers in mind with a somewhat sad but somewhat necessary restriction to permit only a narrow window of access in the off chance that somehow an enemy force not only captured but connected the gate with the original owner's gates, and stargates were made with ships in mind under this same school of thought, the Astral Gate however was built with _mass transport_ in mind, the answer as to how what were supposed to be mindless automatons were to deliver resources from dangerous _(to living protoss)_ worlds like Kronon from a _vast_ distance when the Constructor network wasn't able to connect with a closer base to make the delivery; in other words this gate was to deliver resources from _entire solar systems_ away. Between the rebellion and the overall paranoia of invading armies that got lucky in figuring out how to work them however these particular gates never saw the light of day apparently. Needless to say it was imperative that I make it my priority to keep this guarded at all costs unless the Ship of Adun gets boarded without contest. Hell, Karax whipped out some charges with this thing in mind should worse comes to worst. Hopefully it won't come to pass.

_Warp successful._

And there's the assimilator.

_Warp successful._

Gateway. Forge is next...

_Warp successful._

Cybernetics core, "warp successful."

_Warp successful._

Nexus... _"successful."_

_Warp successful._

I'm not sure whether to deactivate this notification or not. I mean I was fine ignoring it back when the zerg were trying to rip me a new one but and back when I was getting use to my circumstances, but... meh. Maybe later. At any rate...

XVX

Within the hollowed recess of the Nexus, away from the multitude of assembly lines, on a specially designated pad a generously sized set of brilliant blue blocks materialized within the confines of the specially zoned space in a flash, each block contained the compacted amount of 50 mineral crystals. In a similar pad a series of green blocks containing a gaseous substance appeared in a flash. In a matter of moments a work gang of probes swarmed the two positions and soon cleared them of their respective cargo before darting off to the nearest exit. Once outside they began to race toward the only matrix still active within the immediate plane of the burgeoning base. In the meantime several probes began to either harvest from the field of mineral crystals or were dutifully collecting green cubes identical to the ones being transported away from the Nexus.

XVX

Any second now... Aaaaannnyy second now...!

_Warp successful__(!)_

Huh. It almost looks like if the stargate was ever grounded and given a solid floor along the bottom within its tubular walls with what amounted to the protoss cautionary lines in the middle of the entire thing. It's a bit longer than what I observed from stargates though—_oh!_ That reminds me! Go on little buddy, make me a shipyard!

_Incoming transmission._

"The Astral Gate's independent power core is active and holding steady. The gate itself is now connected with the Spear of Adun's own counterpart. We're ready for the first test," Karax announced.

"Incoming minerals then!"

The mineral bearing probes went in first to the center of the platform and deposited their load in an orderly manner. Once they were in the clear I began to activate the gate. "Activated gate. Prepare to receive new cargo!"

"Understood."

(_Dramtically, softly, and without the face paint) _And here we go...

_ZzAP!_

_(Would be blinded if I had eyes)_ Viola! ... did it work?

"The shipment has been received! Just give us a moment and we'll have the teleportation site cleared."

"Right then. I'm just going to load up the gas to pass the time then."

Now that I think about it, why can't we use my Nexus on—no wait, never mind. One it's the previous design and thus cannot offload my resources outside of fabrication chambers. And second it'll be outside of my matrix's range in a matter of minutes. That does bring up a new question though: would I still be connected to the nexus from a solar system away? I hope so. If nothing else I would like some place to 'retreat' to if Amon comes here to kick my ass!

"We're ready to begin the second phase of testing!"

"Here goes!"

_ZzAP!_

"Vespene gas received! The Astral Gate is working to our specifications rather splendidly! We are ready to leave at your command, Hierarch."

"Very good," Artanis joined in. "All hands, brace for warp jump!"

Though I could neither see it and knew better to because of the futility of it, all available heads twisted up to the sunless sky in the direction of the Spear of Adun. Without really even thinking about it I waved goodbye to the departing fleet. "Good luck guys! Kick Amon's ass!"

"We will, and thank you," Artanis acknowledged. If I didn't know better I would almost wager he was smiling a bit at that. I would be smiling too if I could...

"Have fun storming the castle!"

"I'm sorry?"

_Transmission connection lost._

One upped you Swann. One. Upped. You. _Meh heh heh!_ On a side note I am pleased to note that I am still connected to the nexus/plant on the Spear of Adun!

... wait, if I'm still 'there' then how did I lose the transmission? Meh, fuck it. Now let's get this base in full swing!

_Warp successful._

Ha! I knew you'd be too big for Cybros! Now let's see what I can—_oooooooh! Carriers!_ Christmas came early! Thank you Karax! Now to—

_Resources allocated. Construction commencing._

Oh not this shit again.

**A/N: One more chapter. One more chapter before it begins...**

**Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds.**

Going the extra mile #1

A new (effin) campaign update? Thanks Blizzard! (A semi-cannon extra)

"Oh! New campaign units? Neat! Let's see what we got here in the armory..."

At first glance a holographic display of a helmeted zealot holding what appeared to be a bulky rifle in a stance almost identical to a terran marine's guess riffle. There was even a shield on his left shoulder to add to the similarity to his human counterpart.

"'Guardian: With the loss of the Golden Armada and even a multitude of colonized worlds old designs and even older practices had to be adapted in the face of a growing crisis. Guardians, normally content with guarding sites of religious or strategic importance since the rise of the empire by order of the Conclave and later the Daeleem, now take to the field to join their brothers in arms against the threat of Amon thanks to Karax's enhancements.' Cool... what can they do though?"

"'Hold the line: Deploys shield. Once the shield is deployed all incoming damage to their plasma shields from directly ahead of the unit is reduced to one point per hit. The unit is rendered immobile while in this state however.' Alright then."

"'Overcharge: By over clocking the inbuilt cores of their rifles the guardian is able to fire one shot to deal an additional +20 points of damage (+40 against armored). Cooldown: Five seconds.'"

Alright then. Who's the next guy?"

The next holographic protoss was marginally more relaxed in comparison by having its own considerably smaller (in comparison) and sleeker rifle lowered to about waist level. The protoss in question was also garbed in what appeared to be rugged armor topped with not only a cloak around its shoulders that slanted to the unit's right but also wore what would almost be regarded as a bandit mask if no one knew better.

"Shadow Hunter eh? Alright. _(Clears his throat.)_ 'Very few are content to sit idly by after the loss of their homeworld Shakuras. The Shadow Hunters especially. While not as renown as their other brethren by virtue of being hunters and gathers for societal needs, years of hunting taught them the virtues of patience, subterfuge and locating weak points of particularly hard and hardy targets."

"'Permanent Cloaking', skipping that..."

"'Spotting weaknesses: By focusing on one target, the unit and other Shadow Hunters deal increased damage against the marked target for a duration of three seconds.'"

"'Concussive blast: Biological enemy units caught in the radius of the blast suffer 50% movement penalties.'"

"Now who is the Tal'darim's representative..."

Once more a helmeted warrior, in comparison however it was lightly armored as it gripped the apparent trigger's handle at the of the gatling styled weapon whilst the other hand held onto an upward handle to hold the weapon aloft.

"Flagellant: Second only to vanguards, these skirmishers are what become of the relatively lucky few that were disgraced by defeat yet hold a small glimmer of hope to reclaiming their lost place in the Chain of Ascension. Armed with ravager cannons, they are eager to tear into the enemy once more to prove their worth.'"

"Run n' gun: Opportunistic as ever, the tal'darim steal the technologies and techniques of others to make themselves effective. Once sufficiently engaged in a battle lasting longer than three seconds the Skirmisher can move and attack at the same time in either a strafing or forward moving manner.' I'm guessing Tychus was an inspiration here then."

"'Shredding Blast: The unit tosses—' Tychus. Definitely Tychus reborn."

"Alright then, this should be interesting. Let's boot up the game!"


	4. F'n defense

**I do not own either Starcraft nor Overlord the anime... (Cries.) For that matter any other characters/material/etc that may or may not show up belong to their respective owners... whomever that might be. This story is for entertainment purposes only after all.**

**Rated M mostly as a precaution... that and I may be using the word fuck enough times to not only warrant it but potentially ruin it.**

Journey through Universes: Of Metal and Bones

Chapter Four: Fucking defense mission!

Kronon

For better or worse I couldn't help but miss Cybros. I mean for all intents and purposes it was kind of a cell and a death trap in one for me but at least I at least had an idea as to what to expect. Here though? It was a waiting game of an If. Will the Golden Armada strike at me? Will I be effectively ignored? Until the answer comes though all I can do is set up my growing base and harvest materials to make more of the up to date probes, continue to send in supplies, to expand my army, and more importantly build anti-orbit/ anti-aircraft cannons, courtesy of Karax, for that "what if" which quietly hangs over my head like a guillotine. Granted they won't stop a land army but they _will_ fuck up any tempests trying to snipe my base from orbit! Carriers too for that matter... assuming _my_ carriers and tempests don't get to them first! _Mwahaha!_

... not much for me to do otherwise though.

For better or worse the local fauna were keen on avoiding me; on one hand they never bothered me, but on the other I was bored enough to wish the squishy little things at least hissed at me to divert my patrols to avoid unnecessarily antagonizing them to give myself something relatively different to do. My observer network was either hanging just outside the atmosphere to act as spotters for my cannons, were cruising around a wide berth of the base to ensure I had no uninvited guests or were randomly flying about on the apparent continent (or at least I think it's a continent since I haven't seen anything to be considered an ocean yet) just to get a better lay of the land only to reveal nothing worth particularly noting beyond the mountainous terrain I was now fairly acquainted with. As for everything else... sadly there was nothing worth noting since Karax upended my last project of gatling guns. Well technically it was Alarak... kind of. Sort of. In any event Karax was in a tinker happy mood! Kind of amazing really what he could get done in less than half a hour and a semi-random comment though...

... I'm just really, really bored at this point. Bored enough to actually wish Amon did take a swipe at me, fucked up as that is. Hell, sudoku is looking pretty interesting at this point. Yes, you win universe! I am breaking down enough to play your twisted game of numbers and logic! I hope you're happy now!

_New contact attempting to establish connection. Allow? Y/N._

Hm? Who would... be...

XVX

Within the atmosphere observer probes turned upwards the moment one observer spotted _a particularly gold looking fleet_ approaching the planet. The words "oh shit" would've rolled out into the vacuum of space from each observer's built in speakers if they could.

XVX

... here's to hoping that on some level I am wrong. _(Clears my throat despite lacking one.) Yes._

"_**O**__ut__**sid**_er—"

Nope! No! Freakier than I thought in person! I'm not _that_ Jack either so go haunt someone else's family tree!_ Hang up!_

_Transmission ended._

_Call: Artanis!_

_Attempting to contact..._

_Comeoncomeoncomeon—_

_Connection established._

"They arrived, didn't they?" Artanis grimly answered. Man he looked like he aged twenty years.

"Yes! Please tell me you started up the Keystone!"

"We have and we are defending it as we speak! Hold fast! Even if this fleet you face lies beyond the Keystone's range the mass withdraw _should_ disorientate Amon's forces. We will send reinforcements to you the moment this battle has been won!"

"Right! Good luck!"

_Transmission ended._

"Good luck"? Damn. I should've thought of something better than that. Unfortunately however I don't really have the time for that, do I? Already the orbital cannons were being primed and readied for their capital ships without the need of my direct supervision; their targets picked and locked on. In the meantime pockets of my already separated fleet were being spread out. Come hell or high water they weren't getting in without a fight. I _will_ survive this!

_**FIRE!**_

XVX

From an unobstructed wall of gray gaseous clouds short lived streaks of blue energy pierced through the haze and screamed toward distance space, each bolt hurtling to the fleet was approaching. By virtue of distance the red tinted fleet had ample opportunity to break apart from their clustered formation to mitigate what damage that could be wrought upon the fleet. Unfortunately, for them, while it indeed work as most of the bombardment sailed harmlessly through the plasma shields of a handful of ships briefly flashed into existence as some of the photon bolts grazed the ships. Some of which, namely the comparatively smaller ones such as tempests, warp prisms already en route with a phoenix and scout escort, were overwhelmed and promptly destroyed when such a shot passed them at a length no greater than the stretch of an arm. Unfortunately for the defender however these casualties of the first barrage were no greater than eight total at the most...

The second barrage sought to rectify that.

In response the fleet broke apart even further even as it continued to advance upon the planet, and in doing so created holes in the firing lanes which focused mainly on the carriers, especially the ones whose bow mounted cannons were glowing an ominous blue before returning fire upon the surface. It was these gaps the smaller ships, namely the transports and their escorts, eagerly dove through.

Thus the second line of defense emerged.

From the roiling surface of the planet's atmosphere carriers, phoenixes and tempests, whose broader in comparison hulls bore a white-grey furnish with blue highlights as opposed to the golden sleek chassis with red highlights of the attackers, rose up from their murky cover to close up the holes in the apparent defenses and meet these would be infiltrators head on. While interceptors by the dozen were launched and met the fighter escorts head on, phoenixes and tempests prioritized their efforts upon the warp prisms before joining their diminutive counterparts in the battle proper regardless of the cost inflicted upon them in doing so whenever the escorts ignored the interceptors to desperately defend the prisms. In the meantime the carriers' bows were aglow with the same glow before blasting forth a beam aimed solely at the offending carriers and even motherships that joined the fray.

Though the advance had effectively been stalled for the most part, it wasn't stopped. This shield of ships and ground-to-orbit fire could only encompass so much to keep a direct approach from assaulting the base. As such the flanks were exposed. Horrifically so as waves of suicidal fliers hurtled themselves at the defenses to keep them from readily defending their flanks. More importantly these opportunists served not only to thin out the number of defenders so to permit more invaders to slip by unchallenged, but to hold back the retaliatory strikes that would've gone for the _other_ warp prisms the attackers were essentially defending in the process from the original defenders of the Avatar base.

Even so Amon's forces were still opposed.

XVX

Surface

Though older and replaced by their mythically named counterparts, scout ships were not completely out of use. While the phoenix boasts a greater ability to readily traverse through the unspoken challenges that came with ascending to and descending from space with ease and grace, scouts were _fast_.

Packs of remodeled scout ships, their forms relatively bulkier than their original versions but still sleek to reduce air friction, rushed out into the open from their hiding places to engage the warp prisms that made planet-fall but yet to properly 'land' so they could deposit their cargo. Sadly while they eagerly tore into the prisms they could reach like a frenzy of sharks there were more prisms than there were scouts, freshly constructed phoenixes and carriers that were readily available to dispose of before the ground assault finally began. Fresh from their digital holds swarms of zealots, dragoons, immortals and even colossi rushed out to meet out their mechanical counterparts to buy Amon's probers enough time to construct pylons, bays, forges and photon cannons as more and more protoss soldiers were warped into the battlefield by virtue of the deployed prisms while they lasted. Sadly even with their destruction the retaliating air force could only hope to stem the tide by launching themselves at the forming pylons without regard to their own safety. It was not enough unfortunately. Even when the enemy solely focused on separate targets at a time, thus buying scout groups a marginal amount of time to destroy the forming pylons, some warping pylons were simply guarded by too many dragoons to make a difference. Others were too far to be reached in time before they were materialized and reinforced, never mind the warp prism already permitting such an act in the first place. Worse yet was the very first problem the defense forces had to reckon with: there were simply too many for such quick and single minded and even suicidal assaults to do more than simply hamper rather than stall the ensuing invasion of possessed templar rushing out in the general direction of the base.

Once the futility of such an assault had been realized the scouts and phoenixes broke off their doomed assaults and regrouped with the nearest carrier to both be repaired and to carry on their assault on the newly formed bases. Only a few, namely those without such a mobile rally point and field repair station so readily available, went to reinforce the natural choke points where numerous photon cannons and even a garrison lay in wait for both the enemy and reinforcements.

XVX

Aside from the whole Warp Prism incident this is probably the weirdest thing I did. I mean here I am—_DID YOU JUST KAMIKAZE ME?! AMON, YOU PUPPEETERING DICK! DIE DIE DIE!_—right, where was I? Right. Defending in space, fighting dogfights in the air, collecting resources, making troops, 'commanding' troops and still supporting another war front at the same time, experiencing this both in _first person __**and**__ a third person pc-commander-esquish_ fashion in the sense that I know where and what everything is doing and I'm taking special note of my little 'shadow hunter' rifle units as 'I' 'peek' through a pop-up scope which I control... I mean I as the shadow hunter am sniping through a scope which I evidently control and 'see' through as well, which makes the whole 'peering into a scope' thing kind of redundant. I'm not sure which in itself is more strange, me that despite being in a war I am actually engaged in and multitasking with that I am taking note of this or that I find a mild issue that I basically have two different sets of eyes with this particular model of my rifle corps? _Ugh..._

Anyway... Line up the shot. Hold steady. Don't let those years playing Halo and Battlefield go to waste... A~n~d "Boom. Headhshot."

Suck it Amon!

XVX

The sudden loss of a templar's head didn't faze the others in the least. In fact it was utterly ignored even as his body dissolved into a ghostly fire-like light once the emergency teleport system in his suit kicked in despite the loss of its wearer's life. Not even the loss of other zealots in such a manner caused any of them to at least make their movements more serpentine in nature. Then again more and more squads rose up from the snaking pathways leading to the Avatar's base, and they themselves were followed by other templar with burning red eyes and blades... Together this army simply overwhelmed the snipers' abilities to effectively cull their numbers from the safety of their nests along the canyon walls that limited the army's direction of movement. To add insult to injury they were ignored for the most part until Amon's colossi began to scale the craggy walls and sweep along them with their lances in an effort to destroy the cloaked menaces, breaking them and forcing many to retreat least they be scathed as some were.

Regardless...

As the main army approached the natural gateway at the end of the canyon the possessed army stormed through the defenses only became more intricate beyond the shadow hunters still in place and firing at will: ravager models came out from their own hiding places and began to add their own brand of carnage from the relative safety of their own perches. Stalkers blinked into the fray to either join their rifle bearing counterparts or onto the battlefield itself to both tease and lure hapless zealots into chasing them into hastily dug pitfall traps or into the defense's kill zone before blinking away to safety if luck favored them. Rising from the ridges and descending from them came avatar colossi to burn away the enslaved protoss without remorse. Even in where sections allowed it dragoons made their own attempt to snipe the enemy. While each of these certainly drew away the immortals, sentries and dragoons under Amon's forced service to ward off that which their own colossi weren't able to reach in time, the zealots single mindedly charged forth to the last defense the canyon offered, a bulwark of photon cannons, vanguard models, immortals, stalkers and sentinels at the ready to deny them passage. Even then a few scouts and phoenixes hovered in the air above, ready to provide further fire support...

Even as these forces finally faced and smashed into each other with wild abandon similar scenes played out at the other 'gates' as armies sought to destroy each other in canyons, mountain passes, an open plain blocked only by a pair of fortified walls and newly constructed trenches as well as pitfall traps... and the newly made smoldering ravines, courtesy of errant shots from the enemy orbital bombardment. Even as they were still smoldering with slag both sides, upon finding them, attempted to block them off or make use of them respectively.

As these battles wore on however it slowly became more and more apparent that the organic units of the invading forces were becoming sluggish and haggard by nature the longer they fought. Slowly but surely zealots by the score began to drop dead from the exposure of Kronon's atmosphere, their bodies teleported away once the emergency systems kicked in in a desperate bid to save their wearers. In their place the sentries, dragoons, immortals and colossi fought as viciously as they could in their stead. Sadly for them however being surrounded and outnumbered only served to hasten their destruction. Worse yet, for them, their diminished numbers only served to not only soften the defenses of the outposts but open them up for direct assault by Avatar ground forces when the bulk of the defensive force marched upon them after each successful defense...

If only the exact same could be said for the aerial and orbital defense however...

Though the number of their capital ships had been greatly reduced a fair few were still in the fight. Worse yet Amon seemed to learn from his earlier mistake by positioning what few he had remaining out of the orbital cannon's line of fire by using the Avatar's own fleet as a shield, exploiting what reluctance there was in outright discarding literally expandable lives on his counterpart's part while bringing his carriers' purifier beams to bear on the opposing carriers. To add insult to injury these attacks were disregarding any at all 'allies' caught in the crossfire... Setting that aside however, for all intents and purposes it was a bloodied stalemate, one of which was slowly turning to the Avatar's favor.

For all his ruthlessness and the tactics employed thus far Amon's fleet had but few if any reinforcements being added to the invasion fleet in unlike the assault forces on the ground. Every ship that was destroyed or outright wasted was nothing short of a small victory that was beginning to add up in the Avatar's favor; what Amon lost couldn't be replaced due to two wars being fought simultaneously, being fought on multiple fronts no less. What's more, every ship Amon destroyed was replaced with another duplicate. Another pair. Another dozen even, all joining the fight the second they were completed from the unmolested shipyards... It was only a matter of time before more ships joined the defense of the primary base against an army of dragoons, immortals and other mechanical units not only under Amon's sway but unaffected by Kronon's atmospheric poison. From there it wouldn't take long before Amon's overall siege proved to be as futile as it was wasteful even _if_ he did succeed in destroying the Keystone should there be no reinforcements to arrive in time. As it stood at this moment Amon was slowly being bled dry. He was losing, period, at the cost of lives not his own... Tragic only in that none under his sway had a choice in the matter.

XVX

BRING IT ON AMON! YOU COULDN'T GET PAST ME AT CYBROS, YOU CAN'T FUCK ME UP HERE EITHER YOU FUCKER! HAHAHAHA!

_Alert! Spatial distortion detected! Alert! Spatial distortion detected!_

... Fuuuuuuuuuck. I jinxed myself, didn't I?

Right. What the fffff_UUUUUUUU—_

XVX

The orbital cannons once more roared with life as they sniped through what openings that were available amongst the defensive line. In the meantime the carriers and the tempests abandoned their remaining targets completely in favor of a more prominent one surging forth from the depths of space. Like Amon it had no care as to what was between it and its apparent objective. What ships under the zel'naga's command that hadn't moved out the way were smashed without remorse as the Leviathan hurtled not only toward the blockade but the planet's surface as well.

XVX

—_UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU—_

XVX

The zerg beast which lived up to its namesake in sheer size wasn't deterred in the least as orbital artillery and planet glassing beams scored themselves along its pulsating hide. Even as chunks of flesh were blasted off or else incinerated, its own head blown into meaty chunks by several desperate bolts in an effort to stall it, the beast rammed straight through the blockade and plummeted to the planet's surface near the Avatar's base.

XVX

—UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU—

XVX

Nothing could stop it. Whether it was a corpse at this point or not was a moot point when it drove itself headfirst into a mountain range... Though the shipyards and even the primary base were twenty miles out from the point of impact the sheer shock alone was enough to not only shake them to their very foundations but temporarily stall all automated systems but in use or otherwise relatively dormant; a fair few ships and models in the process of being constructed were scratched up at best as various cranes and arms were forced to jitter along the surface while others had to be scrapped and ejected from their assembly bays completely when those same parts ended up tearing into their projects. Needless to say anything less than four legs were similarly affected, and even they were not entirely immune as a few models happening to be standing in precarious positions ended up slipping down slops or else were flipped over.

If only that was the worst of it however.

From the impact sight alone a fair number of what used to be cliff faces went airborne only to be brought back down to earth where they either smashed into Amon's forces, the Avatar's forces and buildings with enough strength to penetrate the shields or, if either was lucky, to harmlessly pelt against the sides of other mountains that were ideally far away from the former two's forces. It was a small note however. Throughout the immediate area and onward fissures cracked into existence spawning both from ground zero and beyond as entire mountains and their ranges were up heaved or forever ruined if they still existed at all. Battle lines were consumed either by newly spawned chasms not even close to the original strike zone. Cliffs toppled and buried entire passes regardless of their use or lack thereof. And the outposts on both sides... only the furthest were the least affected whilst others were savaged or lost entirely. This unfortunately included both the Avatar's prime base of operations and the shipyards, the latter of which lost entirely as a chasm either swallowed up entire structures hole or left them precariously destabilized as they awaited one final push to send them teetering over.

XVX

-CCCKKkkkk...

Fuck you Amon... _Fuck. You._

_Incoming transmission from enemy fle—_

_NO! HELL NO! NO. NO. NO. NO. __**NOOOO!**_

Alright... Calm down. Just. Count. What's. Still. Available.

Main base: fucked up but I can recover. Mineral field and... nope. Vespene vents are apparently fucked up. Thank you _so much __**Amon**_. Lost my front porch here. That Manufacture Nexus is salvagable—_OH FUCK, NOT THE ASTRAL GATE! GO, GO, GO!_

XVX

Servitor probes sprang into action in their own equivalent of a mad dash to the sparking mess that was the Astral Gate: its roof riddled with many a large boulder protruding from its rooftop, both puncturing it and crushing it at the same time. As it stood it was halfway close to being utterly crushed. While still... _fundamentally_ functional... as still running enough power to turn the lights on...

XVX

... I might be better off making a new one. Damn it. Alright. Go little buddy.

Now the battles...

Thanks to squidzilla my fleet is fucked. The Orbital defense cannons should buy me time to set up a new shipyard system. Lost six of them though thanks to that fatass fucker...

Oh no...

... please tell me it didn't do what I think it did.

Please tell me I'm not getting zerg rushed.

Please...

Please...

_Please..._

XVX

Those that could whimpered and whined as they attempted to run all the way back to the prime base if they were lucky enough to do so as paranoia began to claw its way through each rank of the Avatar's forces. Only those still holding back Amon's relentless assaults in the few remaining passages had the benefit of being too busy to feel fear. Even so...

A series of observers reluctantly made their way to the impact site which was still obscured by an ominous pillar of dust and debris that hadn't had the luxury of being reclaimed by gravity just yet.

XVX

Please let it just be a kamikaze... Please just be a kamikaze... Please tell me Amon was just being a dick...

XVX

As they neared closer to the column of debris they slowed little by little until they came to a complete and utter stop. All of them stared at the column as if something would suddenly lunge out to consume them. Every now and then one would attempt to inch closer and indeed succeed with as much only to come to a complete stop once again.

... the avatar's fears were justified in the end once the first of the mutilisks came screeching out from the wall of smoke and dust. It wasn't long after that zerglings, roaches, hydralisks, corruptors, broodlords, ultralisks and so on came forth a merciless tidal wave of grotesque flesh and death.

To make matters worse with no reinforcements to keep Amon's fleet at bay the xel'naga's rage ultimately overcame the remaining defenders at the cost of an ugly share of their fighters and some of their capital ships. Even so, even as the remaining cannons fired upon them, the carriers of Amon's fleet were finally free to use their purification cannons as they were originally intended to be used rather than used for ship-to-ship combat...

One by one the defense cannons were annihilated by either the brute force and numbers of the zerg host as they stormed their way almost blindly through the mountains and its valleys. Others were torn apart as world ending beams ripped through the clouded surface of the planet and torn apart both them and various garrisons that held Amon's protoss army at bay despite either cutting said army off from the path in doing so or destroying them along with their enemies...

As of right now it was the beginning of the end for the Avatar's defense of Kronon.

XVX

_Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit—_

_CALL KARAX!_

_Attempting to contact..._

_Shitshitshitshitshit..._

_Unable to make a connection._

_**FUCKING SHIT!**_

_Alrightalrightalrightalrightalright, justcalmdown... calmdowncalmdowncalmdown..._

What can I dododododo—I KNOW!

XVX

Even in full retreat, even if all the forces had gathered at the base and even if by some miracle Amon was defeated at this very moment and the subsequently freed protoss joined in the defense, _even if _the lesser forms of zerg dropped dead at this very moment much like Amon's protoss forces Kronon would've been lost to the sheer raw might of the zerg's numbers. At least that was the Avatar's opinion of the matter which was dreadfully reinforced by the literally uncountable thousands forcing their way to the base as if they knew its exact location. Even so the terrain worked against them, buying the Avatar a few minutes at the very least. Sadly not enough to form an Astral Gate beforehand to attempt a retreat.

Ergo an act of desperation.

Given their specifications the orbital defense cannons were, as the name suggested, meant for a defense against enemies in orbit. Namely defensive operations against large or significantly armored enemies much like a protoss carrier or even a NON SUICIDAL ZERG LEVIATHAN! Regardless, given their intended targets it is needless to say such weapons are immensely powerful. Too powerful in fact to even consider aiming at a ground based enemy as opposed to an aerial one lest the most benign result was a crude form of extreme landscaping.

Given the circumstances however Amon, and by extension the zerg as a whole given their MO, have clearly shown they had no interest in the ecological effects of such actions. That and there was virtually nothing worth noting to show any such restraint any more.

XVX

_**DAKKAAAAA!**_

XVX

The vanguard of the zerg host was vaporized along with the very ground beneath their feet by the only pair with a clear line of sight. Even then any cannon that was still operational and had even a passing chance to cull their numbers blasted away at the natural barriers preventing more successful successive shots from tearing into the hellspawned horde. As one would imagine it had the desired effect of diverting entire tendrils from the semi-column, thinning their numbers greatly for at least a cautious hope to kindle into being.

Amon however was of another opinion.

Poorly aimed pillars of blue-white death slammed into the earth and cut their way toward or away from the redirected cannons despite the remaining defenses trying their damndest to shoot down the carriers responsible for the acts. Even so some blasts struck true. The cannons, sturdier than the dirt they were settled upon fell into newly entrenched canyons long before they were properly destroyed. Those that weren't were set upon by the diverted forces of the zerg, either overwhelmed by their 'infrantry' or else swamped by their flyers which quickly chipped away at shields, armor and photon cannon defenses alike till nothing remotely functional remained. Worse yet the main column where they originated from was only deterred at best by the original barrage by the orbital cannons...

By the time the first wave of the scattered forefront of this horde arrived to assail the defenses the new Astral Gate wasn't even halfway completed. Though manageable, easy even, with the hastily reinforced defenses, the observers were quick to guard against a false hope to withstand the main force barreling straight toward the base. Their numbers still uncountable even with the short lived diversion having done at least some of its work.

XVX

_Transferring completed. Primary resource cache holder: Fav. Recommendation: Please transfer to a more durable module at the earliest opportunity._

_Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah—_I get it! It's not like I have much of an option at the moment! If I do bail out then I would at least have some resources to my name! _The Nexus aboard the Spear of Adun is beyond the matrix's range to transfer to it after all damn it!_

Alrightalright just calm the fuck down... The other gate won't warp in in time, just let the servitors jury-rig this half-working wreck into something respectable enough for an emergency warp—_DAMN IT!_ _The core got fucked up as well!_

Wait-wait, calm down! _CALM DOWN!_ There's still enough juice for a quick jump! Just got to hold out—

... fuck you Amon. Fuck. You.

XVX

Like with the defensive outposts, the barricades and the cannons the enemy carrier's discharge once again wrecked havoc in blind but devastating sweeps. Established last resort battle lines were rendered eschew before the vicious onslaught of the primary zerg assault. Manufactories, pylons and various units were obliterated the second their shields yielded to the bombardment. Entire sections of the base were physically cut off or left powerless, either one alone preventing reinforcements or a last ditch effort to resist the swarm muscling its way through the savaged models trying and failing to stem the tide.

All that could be done at this point was to cram as many units of no particular order into what space that was available whilst the remaining number futility hurled themselves into the meat grinder that was the zerg.

XVX

_Comeoncomeoncomeoncomeon—_

_Warning: Astral Gate connection unstable. Warning: Astral Gate unsta—_

_ACTIVATE!_

_Activating: Ast-ast-ast-ast—_

_Connection los—_

XVX

In the blink of an eye as host of nine sentinels, three stalkers, six dragoons, an immortal, two master probes, twenty probes both new and old, forty-three servitors and three observers vanished from the platform before all power was lost to the Astral Gate. Not that it mattered. The zerg, having no nuance nor understanding of the technology simply tore at the structure in their feral rage till there was nothing but ruin left in its wake. As for the rest of the base, what remained of it... of the three buildings that still remained for just a few seconds longer by virtue of being toward the rear of the invasion and the six units plus the cue left behind, any and all sense of life seemed to have left them as subroutines kicked in once the zerg were close enough to be engaged, offering one last token yet robotic attempt to defend the base before it was completely consumed.

XVX

Unknown

... this isn't the Spear of Adun.

... _Contact Artanis._

_No signal has been acquired._

... _Search for transmission signals._

_None detected._

...

Okay then. Deep breath _(would take one despite not having lungs)_. This place is obviously not Kronon. There's grass and trees for starters...

... and I can't connect to anything else beyond my contingent here.

Alright Obs time to scout!

XVX

All three observation probes rose up from the cluster of antsy combat units that made to form a circle predominantly made up of the servitors in front, the sentinels grouped in threes behind, a stalker for each group of sentinels and the immortal standing guard over the master probes.

From their newfound height they found nothing but forest for miles around. Well forest plus a mountain right behind their current position.

... A forest, a mountain and, though the distance was undoubtedly vast, a rather ominous column of smoke on the horizon where it was barely visible. An active volcano perhaps? As tempted as the Avatar was to send a probe there immediately just to ascertain what it was, the probes didn't budge in the slightest. Instead two went back down to their equivalent of ground level whilst one remained trained on the mountain, scanning it in depth for potential resources.

XVX

Oooh! Minerals! I know where I'm building my new base at!

**(8/9/19) A/N: Hello everyone!**

**I'll be straight, I was kind of working with an addled mind the day before I posted this chapter and basically forgot to add a bonus scene until it was pointed out that I had dubbed Jack as the Avatar without really explaining why. One of a series I might add.**

**Thus I must atone with this... BY WRITING!**

**Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention. No refunds.**

Going the extra mile #2

Deleted Scene: The Karax Solution (part 1 (a canon extra)

Workshop, Spear of Adun

Not quite the Solar Core but squee anyway! Squee I say! In fact I'm a little surprise I didn't go squee when the zer—no wait, dumb observation. Only the deranged would admire that which is readily trying to kill them in the heat of the moment.

... belated squeeeee...

Meh, close enough I guess for those cockroach bastards.

Still though, the... 'tour,' I guess... well truth be told I might have better received it if I were still human sadly. Being a literal camera kind of dulled the wow factor and eloquent beauty that was the halls of the arc ship. I suppose the fact that I was being escorted to be 'checked out' as it were also played a factor with my mood, compounding the lack of a pleasant experience as it were. That and armed guards were escorting my probes here... Squee though. A subdued one but a 'squee!' nevertheless.

Fenix/Taladar in person though? Plus Karax? _YAY!_

Granted the former was standing guarding over me and Karax was poking me, BUT SQUEE!

"Now would you be so kind as to demonstrate the use of the construction matrix for me?"

Hm? Oh right. Kind of zoned out there. "Right. Do you want me to activate it anywhere in particular? Anything you want built in particular?"

"Right on this platform if you would be so kind. Out of personal curiosity would you be so kind as to make a pylon for me?" he 'said' to me as he gestured to the aforementioned platform... which hauntingly looks kind of like the interrogation chamber in X-Com... minus the glass enclosure... there's no giant robot arms armed with... whatever those 'pad' things are qualified as, are there?

No. Don't think like that. Benefit of a doubt here. They're giving you as much you may as well make the effort, got it? Okay, here I go...

_Bzzztzz!_

Welp, no robot arms. Yay!

"Interesting!" Karax announced. By the time both probes turned to look at him his back was to 'me', mes? Is there a plural word for me? Eh, fuck it. His back was to the both of 'us' as he loomed over the monitor of what I can only guess to be the protoss equivalent of a built in and hard wired to the floor computer... Console! That was what I was going for, a console!

"Truly just fascinating!" Karax 'whispered' in awe... transmissions aside, I can't help but find it a tad disturbing. Granted I know protoss don't have mouths but let's face it, some weeks ago I had a mouth. I been around a lot of creatures with mouths. I got use to mouths. I miss mouths. Hell, I miss eating! And sleeping! And hands! And feet! Hell again, I HAD A PULSE! Granted I might've been dead a _long_ time before both Artanis and the zerg showed up if I were still human but let's face it, I would've been a _fuckton_ more comfortable like that!

_I WANT MY BODY BACK GOD DAMN IT! GET ME OUT OF THIS PERVADING NIGHTMARE OF THE SENSES!_

"I have _never_ seen such a stable version of this before! Tell me, do you happen to know who worked on this?" Karax inquired as he looked over his shoulder toward me... master probe me...

"I have absolutely no idea. I'm just counting myself lucky that I can read the notes in my... databank here. Otherwise there would've been a lot of monkeying around here on my part."

Despite not having a traditional, by human standards, face, he managed the confused expression quite well for someone as unfamiliar with protoss facial expression to recognize it as such... at least I hope it's confusion.

"What exactly do you mean by that, if I may ask?"

"I'm sorry?"

"By being able to read, what exactly do you mean by that?"

"Uh... that I can understand it?"

He stared at me, his face inscrutable for all intents and purposes. Then he slowly turned to his console and pressed a few keys built into it. Shortly after he turned to me, his face still unreadable. "If you would humor me, would you mind reading this for me?" He then gestured to the screen.

Not seeing a reason not to I scooted the master probe forward and levitated it so I could get a better look at the screen... "I can't read it."

"Just for clarification, you mean you don't understand what it says."

I did not understand a single one of those characters in that one sentence on the screen. "Right."

"But can you understand this?" He pressed a switch on the keyboard and a second later the sentence written in... I want to say khalee just for dignity's sake... to one written in _English_. Or terran...ese... by protoss standards? Did they call English? Do Terran's call it English and my admittedly half-assed theory that the other languages fallen out of use prove correct? I guess I'll have to ask someone if I come across them. Ooh! I hope it's either Jim Raynor or Matt Horner! Maybe even—no wait, Tychus died already long before this point. Aw...

"Yes. Perfectly." Honestly I'm mildly insulted. 'This is a quickly made sentence' indeed.

"Interesting."

He brought his hand up to idly cup and scratch at his bonish beard-thing as he slowly rotated his head to look at the just completed Pylon warping into existence before turning back to master me.

"While you are under no obligation to do so, may I run an experiment on you?"

...

"What kind of experiment...?" _(Eyes would narrow if they could.)_

"To put it bluntly, I wish to run a diagnostic on your system."

Without even thinking it both master me and regular me jerked back.

XVX

Meanwhile, War Hanger Subsection Four

At once the entire army jerked back as if skittering away from something surprising as it was caustic. Unfortunately for a great many a grand number of them were packed into groups. In these groups a good many of them were literally back to back with each other, or side to front, back to front, so on and so forth. Needless to say to the surprise and mild amusement for the protoss on guard duty these automatons not only crashed into each other en masse but toppled into disorganized heaps of bodies, limbs and the occasional probe.

XVX

Aw come on!

"I apologize for startling you, my friend, but allow me to make my case."

_(My eyes would definitely be narrowed at him.)_

"As you yourself undoubtedly know your entire circumstance is, for lack of a better word, unique. By the own Purifiers' admission you have, for all intents and purposes, spontaneously existed with no previous record of either being entered into the dataweb or, as frightening and fascinating as this may be to consider, be the amalgamation of several lines of phantom programs culminating into a single consciousness."

You got to be fucking kidding me. There is _no fucking way_ I'm going to accept that my life beforehand is the weird ass result of random codes at work or whatever! I deal with enough occasional existential crises at a given time as it fuck is! No! No! _Fuck no!_ ... wait, didn't I hear this before? ... meh.

Unaware of this, Karax kept talking... the bastard. Well meaning one by bastard all the same.

"For all we know, for all I personally suspect, is that this was by no means a random event. _Someone_ deliberately done this to you for reasons yet to be known. Someone or _some thing_ at the very least. Worse yet it had to be something intimately familiar enough with both you and our scientists' work to have gone out of their way to either translate a prototype system for you t operate or essentially customize one with you in mind."

... I'll take the existential crisis please.

"With that in mind I hope to find whatever clues are available... unfortunately that would mean I would personally have to access and search through what would be very well your mind at this point to find that which you may have overlooked or worse yet unable to look at under your own cognition."

... fuck.

"... you're not going to change stuff without my permission, are you?"

"I will not, this I swear to you," Karax answer as he placed a hand over his heart.

"... alright. Let's do it."


	5. F'n acclimation

**I do not own either Starcraft nor Overlord the anime... (Cries.) For that matter any other characters/material/etc that may or may not show up belong to their respective owners... whomever that might be. This story is for entertainment purposes only after all.**

**Rated M mostly as a precaution... that and I may be using the word fuck enough times to not only warrant it but potentially ruin it.**

Journey through Universes: Of Metal and Bones

Chapter Five: Fucking acclimation

Jack's Mountoin (a place holder title), Unknown planet

Good news, there is enough minerals on this mountain that even an idiot spawning nothing but zealots in game could potentially conquer an entire world with. Bad news, no vespene was available to be harvested to recoup my losses via construction and building myself a fleet. Worse news, I might not be in the Koprulu Sector meaning I may be up a creek in regards to vespene. Good news, I have an idea as to how to make some thanks to _Swarm of War_... bad news, one the other side of that coin I am officially paranoid of running into orks, chaos marines, medieval jackasses who will wake up some sleeping space marines and so on and so forth. As such I am going to fortify myself here on this mountain and strip mine the bugger so I would indeed have myself an army to conquer the world should shit hit the fan. It's in poor taste, I'll admit, but can you blame me if I really am in the 40k-verse? It's a shame though, it really is. But survival first until I have proof otherwise.

So with that in mind I made sure and double sure this mountain was for all intents and purposes uninhabited before making an effort to really claim it for my own beyond my initial little nest. Took a four days but it beat rushing headlong into armies with a grand total of 87 units to my name, three of which would only be able to ram into anything at best... I guess I have a new project to pass the time with now that I think about it. Regardless, seeing as all I had to contend with were birds, rams and what looked to be mini dragons... granted I don't recall anything dragon-like in the fanfic, plus I'm fairly sure there weren't rams there either on what'shisnames planet, but I'm still siding with my paranoia here, I began my latest base in all haste the moment I found a decent enough spot to place my manunexus... No, that won't do. Fuck it, I'm just going to call them nexus/manufacturing plants as I already have. Where was I—oh right. Build one, make more drones, and terraformation in that order.

Okay maybe not terraform per se but I'm making this a proper spot for a base! It'll be crude as hell since I'm not exactly an architect but it'll do... either way I'm going to catch hell for it given a lack of an immediate emergency...

While probably not accurate, I kind of recall what'shisname not really having a high opinion of the protoss in general. Even thinking them foolish or sentimental or something for not maximizing their potential for warfare or something, right? Maybe. Been awhile. The thing is though there's a difference between being "sentimental" and showing restraint. Case and point: the carrier's often unused photon cannonry—if they really wanted to they could glass every planet which had enemy opposition and saved themselves a hassle of dealing with said enemy, ecological effects be damned. Why don't they? Because they're not heartless bastards. At least not at large... _I'm looking at you, Tal'darim and Alarak_. No. Why use a nuke when you can settle matters with a blow from a fist? Why threaten someone and deliberately promote ill will when you can reason with them and walk away with either a boon or a thought? Why destroy when you can create? Granted the protoss aren't exactly a _nice_ people as made evident by _waiting for Mar Sara to be infested just to glass the zerg_, but at the same time they largely don't see a point in conquest for conquest's sake. In fact they aren't too keen on aggressive expansionism in the slightest despite some of their (previous) leaders' more belligerent attitudes towards terrans and their own kind... at least as far as I know. To be fair there's a lot of supplementary material I hadn't seen/read...

Still though!

My point being is that for the most part the protoss don't throw their military might around for their egos... usually... _Ugh... ("Clang!")_

_Warp successful._

Yeah-yeah...

Alright, one last time...

Protoss don't like to _needlessly_ destroying things if it can be helped. There.

... most of the time at least—_SHUT UP ME!_ _I'M NOT HELPING MY OWN CASE! __**GAH!**__ ("Clang!")_

... I'm making probes. I'm going to use them to excavate a proper platform into this mountain for a base despite Protoss reluctance to do so via probes for ecological/pollution reasons. End of story.

In the meantime, time to find me a volcano. Hrm...

XVX

Two of the three probes rose up from the burgeoning marshal grounds as the manufactory began to produce probes to supplement the work force that was already tearing into the rocks of the small plateau the "expeditionary force" managed to reached after finding and following a fairly perilous path for their land based units. Of these two one swiveled on the spot, scanning the horizon for more mountains, the most likely suspects to find a volcano, active or no. Once it spotted the nearest chain it departed in all haste. As for the second one, it stared at the pillar of smoke that was spotted upon the initial survey of the land.

Thin by virtue of distance, but very noticable... and as previously noted, ominous. With great reluctance the probe sped forth in its direction. Idly it couldn't help but glance up at the grayed sky above in the meantime.

As for the remaining probe of the "expedition", it continued its route unabated on the off chance that it either missed a vital piece of information such as a potential threat or an immensely favorable boon, or else at least spy on other visitors to the mountain much like the Avatar's forces.

XVX

... hmmm. I might have gas to spare but if I'm not careful I may very well end up spending it all without realizing it. I guess I should hold off on a large fleet. I'll need more immortals and stalkers though—no wait. I can substitute stalkers with guardians and the like. Might be better that way... you know what, I'm going to make some stalkers anyway just in case I need the mobility they have. Thanks Karax for fixing that Blink problem!

Oh! that reminds me—... No. Let's save that till after I can jury rig some vespene. I'm not even sure if they can work in the first place despite it being Karax's creation. Then again it _is_ a prototype by admission so it might not even work at all! Yep, saving them till I can get a supply of vespene.

Anyway, what else—oh! Wait, maybe? Possibly. You know what, yeah. Just in case. Wait...

_Check for signals._

_No signal has been acquired._

Yep. Going to need to build a comms tower. The nexussi in general only had no much power to break through jamming signals be they intentional or coincidental by more natural causes like intense electromagnetic fields for example. It's also possible that the nexus is much too far away to make contact with anyone. I could simply be in an uncharted galaxy as far as the protoss are concerned. No guarantees that it'll work though despite the massive boost toward communications if either setback is a reality.

What else though? I'm tempted to make an Astral Gate but frankly I'm not sure if that'll work either. Besides, that required a crap ton of gas too...

Shuttles/Warp Prisms. That's it. Got to get those probes to those potential vespene sites somehow in a hurry. Anything else?

...

... can't think of anything at the momen—observers. Right. Thankfully they don't cost that much. If nothing else they should provide me with an observation network like I had with Kronon...

_(Clicks my tongue despite lacking one.)_ Wheeelp... I think that's all I have for an agenda for the time being. Nothing left to do other than dig in and build up I suppose...

Hm...

"Riding on the city of New Orleans. Illinois Central, Monday morning rail..."

XVX

Two weeks later

I'll be honest, I was disturbed when the observer sent to the still active smoke stack was the one to find a volcano. Not so much that it found one but it was three days of traveling without seemingly coming closer to the pillar of ash in question that really jarred me... hell, even now I'm having second thoughts about continuing my pursuit of said stack. I mean what sort of event would cause such a... phenomenon? I don't know. Judging from the fact I could see it out from another continent the source of this event was doubtlessly huge. As in mistaking a sleeping giant or dragon for a mountain range covered in snow huge if it could be observed so casually from a distance. That honestly can't be good for _anything_ on this planet... I guess at this point I'm merely sending the observer to it out of morbid curiosity if nothing else. And it's _still_ not close enough to observe the cause. The closest I have to a marker of sorts aside from the island was that when the probe left the continent I'm primarily based in the pillar of smoke was the size of a toothpick at best. Now it was closer to the size of a tree in terms of width. A tree you can barely see from far away...

But enough about that. Aside from my mountain stronghold I now have a more lax island base as well! A relatively small one though seeing as I not only have to custom build an assimilator but there was a lack of anything to justify building a proper base aside from a nexus, a few pylons, a couple of waygates and a few turrets as a rudimentary defense. Aside from the volcano itself there wasn't much in the way of minerals to rip straight from the rocks on the island like I had with Avatar Mountain...

... Sue me. My mountain!

Anyway, momentary insanity aside...

Now that I think about it, don't mineral deposits grow with time? It certainly did in Stetmann's lab, I think. Unless that was some other kind of crystal there... I think I read a wiki page about it growing or something. Might be worth investigating. It would certainly make the mountain a tad more defendable if I stop putting holes in it that some burrower might happen upon and exploit because I forgot about it.

Right. Seed those minerals!

XVX

In the expanded mountain base and on the island a probe ducted into a nexus only to retrieve a cube of minerals. In their respective locations the probes darted to a seemingly random spot near the nexus in the company of a sentinel which soon dug a small hole into the ground which the cube was not only deposited into but covered up with dirt as well. Once that was done the respective pairs silently stared at the recently disturbed patches of earth in their respective zones before the probes darted back into the nexus. A minute later it returned with another cube in their respective clutches. Unlike the first ones however these new cubes were simply placed on the ground of a different spot a short distance from the buried cube before once more returning to claim more cubes. In the meantime the sentinels that accompanied their respective probes dug deeper holes in a different spot away from the other two cubes to accommodate a larger and equally experimental collection of mineral cubes.

As this was happening a set of pallets meant for holding minerals much like the ones in Cybros was constructed on both the island base and the mountain base. Soon enough these were set aside, two inside the nexus which built them and two outside in the opposite direction of the buried/open air deposits. Two of each were laden with either a single cube or a pack of eight.

XVX

That should do. If nothing else I can always reclaim them at a later date.

Now where was I...

Right. The custom assimilator.

The assimilator in of itself was already surprisingly flexible in design, probably to counter/accommodate irregularly exposed vespene vents. That said however the more or less standard was not meant to cover an open expanse much like the volcano's steaming vent. I suppose I could've just simply spared the resources to simply make a bigger extractor but hey, I had no idea if this would work in the first place...

It did, thankfully. I'm still tinkering with it though. Inefficient as hell but I now had a confirmed source for vespene gas trickling into my stockpile; one unit per twenty minutes. For now though as something of a control group, or the closest equivalent to it I suppose given I keep forgetting how control groups are properly defined, I left a simple assimilator on one half of a platform built into the... tunnel? Geyser font? What was the proper term for that vertical exit shaft for volcanoes?

... Bah.

Anyway, one half of the platform was dedicated to an unmodified assimilator that was passively collecting the natural gases being funneled out from the lava below. Maybe because of its size is part of why the process is inefficient. I'll have to find another volcano to experiment with if I want to know. Regardless, the second half of the platform was another assimilator of my own make. As oppose to vents which the normal assimilator used this one had piping which was being fed directly to the lava below. Haven't turned it on yet to be honest. Namely because my admittedly hair brained attempts to connect it to the lava had ended up costing me probes and piping; thermal fluctuations aside, plasma shields were not for prolonged contact with anything of a face-melty nature. Its times like these I sincerely regret not pursuing an education in either some form of science or at least engineering... But geothermal plants had to operate had to operate with some form of contact with a volcano, right?

... ah fuck _it_ and fuck _me_; a life time of video games, movies and an aversion for serious study finally rears its head to bite me in the ass. Maybe the pipes being this close to the flow would provide a more concentrated form of gases to be converted into vespene? As good a test as any I suppose.

And activating... Now to see the results as they trickle in.

Now what to do... Now that I think about it I didn't build any shipyard have I?

One at the mountain goes without saying. But for the island base? Well there _is_ room... but any ship stationed here wouldn't arrive at the mountain base and vice versa for two days at the very...

Doh! Stargates! Never mind! Haha!

Hmm. What now though? At the rate things are going it's going to be awhile before I find another active volcano to exploit. Perhaps I should start digging into dormant ones? Maybe. Either way my observers are going to be exploring this ever expanding continent...

I guess I'll watch my soups then.

XVX

Unknown Kingdom (to be later rectified the moment _SOMEONE MENTIONS THE NAME ALREADY!_)

Having since chanced upon it, and save for the occasional curious foray into mildly related matters to it, a cadre of observers have been left to dutifully monitor what appeared to be a human kingdom surrounded by the sea, defended by a great wall which faced forested hills from high above out of both curiosity. A human kingdom with medieval level technology no less not unlike a certain kingdom in a fanfic... Thankfully during their tenure to date no threats of any sort had been monitored. Especially greenskinned ones. Or demonic ones much to the Avatar's relief. Still, wishing to remain neutral to any undoubtedly grand in scale conflicts the Avatar simply had the observers watch them from afar on most days. When curiosity was too great to ignore, or boredom for that matter, some of the units would descend from their vantage points in the air to a more ground based level to eavesdrop on the otherwise unsuspecting folk below.

Always above their heads, the observers stood little risk of accidentally bumping into someone or something in an effort to deter any potential attention that came from such collisions; they occasionally had to dart out of the way of inordinately tall carriages and carts though. As curious as the Avatar was he didn't have any of the observers dare slip into any of the buildings; the risk of detection was not only greater but he would also be forced to wait for someone to open the door/window just to enter or leave; a new project was borne from that nuisance of a problem: extendable limbs in an effort to counter such an inconvenience. As such the observers were delegated to observing that which was in the open or could be seen through an open window/door. It wasn't glamorous but it passed the time at least. It certainly held the occasional surprise at least that put mild doubts to the Avatar's theory of his placement...

XVX

Alright you crotchety old bastard. Give me a little satisfaction! Come on! Quite yapping you self satisfied prick of a teacher!

XVX

Unbeknownst to an outdoor class in an doorless atrium in what could only be deduced as an academy of sorts by the necessity of a standardized uniform from the obviously young teenagers either milling about its walkways or, in this case, sitting in the tiered seats before an altar-like stone desk where a bald man with a grayed beard was lecturing his apparent class. The bulk of the speech of course was missed by the unit that came upon the scene. Whatever it was however it was no less obvious that the teacher's ego swelled to a such considerable size that any... 'upstanding' person would feel duty bound to knock him down a peg for the sake of principle. Or revenge by proxy on those who wronged them in the past who this person reminded them of. Either or. Sadly there was only so much one could do with an observer while trying to remain incognito.

"Now pay attention and behold for once! For one day you sorry lot would be expected to do this!"

... the students also seemed to be quietly holding this same opinion of course if sharp and irritated looks sent to the teacher's back was of any indication.

XVX

Come on. Come on. Make a fool of yourself you piece of shit...

... hmmm...

XVX

From its spot on the wall the observer dared to fly out and position itself behind the teacher as he himself turned to face a board behind the stone desk from the students' point of view. As he held his arms out a semi-familiar, both from previous observation sessions of individuals like himself as well as a guarded sense recollection from the Avatar's days as a human, intricate circle of bright beige light flashed into existence as hollow stars of equally brilliant beige floated in the air like shields as they carefully followed a track of sorts that was based on the outermost edge of the magic circle on the ground.

"Grand—!"

"_**BEEP!**__"_

"AAH!"

_BOOMF!_

By the time the cloud of dust erupted in the first place the observer responsible for the audio message fled back to the safety that was the top of the wall. Sadly due to the speed of which the observer had to what a few moments to properly review what became of the now hacking and wheezing teacher that wildly waved his arms about to dispel the smoke cloud in earnest haste. Soon enough the results were made clear to everyone...

The tirade of laughter from the students was nothing less than justifiably brutal.

The teacher was quick to hide himself behind his desk, his face red and his rage/embarrassed sputtering making any attempt of coherent communication impossible. Finally having enough ridicule in such a short amount of time the teacher furiously gnashed his teeth as he decided to make all haste to the building proper via the closest door as he desperately hid both his dignity and his ass from view during his sprint.

XVX

And thus that is my good deed for the day. I are happy now...

_... Snerk!_

I just couldn't resist. Aaahhh... Now what else is there to do?

XVX

Before that particular probe left the academy's courtyard wall it spared one last look at what was likely the teacher's intended target which was nailed to the board looming by the desk. It was a dirtied version of what was most likely the kingdom's crested flag given its prominence throughout the recorded land. It was a bit strangely designed, it's coloring of blue on a field of white aside: what could only assumed to be a triple bladed sword pointed upwards as its crescent pincer-like handle jutted upward till it sharply tapered off to the outside in curve similar to an Arabian scimitar, yet strangely the points were adorned with blockish wings. Another pair of wings jutted out at a rigid angle from the handguard as well, just below the outer curve, starting from the point just before the sword's handguard curved to meet the sword's diamond shaped grip which ended with a diamond shaped pommel.

Without giving it a second thought the observer left to find something, anything of interest within the city it was stationed in.

Sadly for it any significant news it encountered would come second.

XVX

Avatar Mountain's (geological) base

Unlike with canyons, mountains and even plains forested regions, heavily forested ones at that, made it a more difficult task for a surveillance system to alert the main base of incoming hostiles of any sort so it could send out a team/squad/army to intercept the threat. Every rustle of the trees and bushes could either be the doing of the wind or some animal that managed to sneak by the observers if not an enemy of some kind. Every recorded snap of the twig could again either be an animal or worse an observer bumping into something by accident without realizing it, inducing a false alarm time and again... Granted having an entire surveillance network the lookout for an army on the march from above the forest and within it was nothing less than paranoid but considering the armies that were being watched for was possibly made of orks/chaos/evils-that-laughs-at-your-attempts-to-survive-and-punts-you-for-eaons-for-shits-n'-giggles-before-eating-you-slash-enslaving-you then one might argue that said spymaster responsible of the network wasn't necessarily paranoid _enough_...

XVX

Oh that reminds me. I should really try out those experimental Templar models Karax cooked up.

... hopefully they'll work. I'm sure he'll appreciate the notes of successes/failures at any rate.

XVX

Even so the network was proven to be wanting as made evident the second a large band of pale yellow skinned, fang mawed humanoids the size of a one story building stormed their way toward the sole manufactured entrance of the mountain; a defense mechanism in itself to ideally make enemies take more predictable routes as well as funnel them into the winding high walled passage. Once spotted, the first of the preliminary defenses kicked in, a custom made gate without a force field slammed shut; on the door's surface the words "KEEP OUT" were printed in large letters and highlighted for good measure.

The humanoids, armed with clubs that looked to have been small trees ripped straight from the ground, snarled as they began to batter the gate with both clubs and fists with surprising force. Not enough to break but the dents were immediately noticeable. Regardless, the brutes continued to assail the gate even as a servitor probe rose up to peer down at them from above the gate.

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"Hey! HEY! STOP THAT!"

Surprisingly enough that did in fact grab these... 'guys' attention. For a brief moment they stopped attacking my gate to stare up at 'me'. Now for a wee bit of diplomacy for decency's sake if this is indeed just some sort of random group...

"Look, if I parked myself atop some sort of sacred mountain, then I'm sorry. If you want to—"

"RAAAAGH!"

_SMASH!_

_Unit destroyed._

...

Okay. Okay then. If they want to play it that way, fine. We'll play. Let me just get your 'welcome gift' ready... Would you be so kind as to tire yourselves out with my gate in the meantime?

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As the humanoids continued to assault the gate with mild success various spots on the mountainside the naked eye would believe air itself seemingly began to shift and churn as if something began to move through it. In the meantime stalkers, guardians and flagellant models began to skulk their way toward the top of semi-rugged platforms which the initial gate was built into as well as similar locations which bore rocks large enough to hide their frames. At the very top, the last winding strip which overlooked the snaking path up the mountain, immortals and vanguard models began to position themselves to surge forth to the edge to rain death from above. Similarly a compliment of immortals/vanguards stationed themselves in the back of a mixed troop of sentinels and zealot models, a few of the latter examining their axes as they waited behind an open gate at the very top of the mountain.

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I certainly hope I got the solarite composition right considering I had to make do with a synthesized version of it... Meh. Going to find out at any rate. I have the disruptors if nothing else.

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It took the hulking humanoids the better part of an hour to force their way through the initial gate. By then they barely had enough energy to stand much less spit on their bloodied appendages in an attempt to apply some sort of protection and relief on them. Even so it seemed that the act of the gate's destruction was in itself a signal. By the time a woefully away observer came in an attempt to investigate how the humanoids managed to bypass the network without alerting even the periphery patrols that was scanning the area a new threat announced itself with a charge. Centaurs—

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Holy crap! Sweet!

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—burst into the scene and made a b line for the gate.

Yet—

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... huh.

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—not all of them were _traditional_ centaurs.

While already half animal, some of their number had more... animalistic qualities more in common with a predator. Be it with their already bestial lower bodies with claws as oppose to hooves or having more traditional equine bodies with anthropomorphic panther-like torsos.

Regardless of this uniqueness however the small horde rushed past the humanoids who could only lethargically stare at them as they rushed by before claiming a second wind and hauling themselves up the mountain road...

Sadly this apparent invasion was a secondary interest at best upon the discovery of another detail.

The observer, doubly powered by a curious mind at this point given the fact such a force _should not_ have easily slipped through without being hinted at by the stationary units within the forest, came upon a hunchbacked figure garbed in a shroud observing the scene from the relative safety of the forests' shadow. Yet despite its obvious attempts to hide itself, the observer was made to find that could not be seen. As such it couldn't hide the fact that it had gnarled dark blue hands nor almost black stubs that passed for horns upon its brow. Never mind the yellowed sharpened teeth with peeked out with every twitch of its lips as the demonic being's painfully jaundiced eyes seemingly observed the horde which stampeded up the winding trail... Even from a distance the unit itself was able to clearly see some of the units hiding along the ridges which kept those traveling along the path from seeing them.

After a moment's deliberation a course of action was taken in an effort to safeguard future operations, hasty though it was. But as the saying goes...

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Knowledge is power...

"_Pew!"_

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The demon's head exploded just in time for its eyes to curiously flick over to a bright flash from the mountain wall most relevant to his own position.

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Guard it well.

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What guilt there was to be had over the murder of what might have simply been an innocent observer was assuaged by a fair margin when the creature's body not only burst into hellish blue flame but was disintegrated by it in the same stroke; save for certain environments and biological evolutions, such a reaction was hardly natural. That aside the observer on the scene merely held its station to ensure the demonic being was indeed dead as it waited for other units to join it and begin their search for a potential trail or, as the case most likely was, ritual ground which summoned this invasion force. Yet when this search began, when the final warning had been given to the group when their final destination was cut off by yet another gate, armed with a plasma shield, only to be ignored, a disturbing thought crossed the Avatar's mind whilst the observers scoured the wilderness.

This group's numbers was much too small to be anything more than a large raiding party at best. Was it a test of his defenses? Was the base not as hidden as he had hoped? Was it possible that his attempt to hide his hand ironically showed more of it to this shadow of an enemy? Or was the demon and this group unconnected to one another beyond circumstance?

In a growing search for more definitive answers more observers left their posts to search the immediate area of the forest around the mountain to put this new sense of paranoia to rest just as the one sided slaughter began; what few enemies that had enough wit to realize they were trapped dared the sniper and stalker riddled path back to the gate; even if they made it so far as the entrance they would've found themselves damned by a new gate in place of the ruined one, one glistening with a plasma shield. Yet a forest was nothing like a mountain or a valley. The swaying of branches could simply be of disturbed animals or the wind if an observer wasn't the cause. And for all their abilities to observe, detect and decipher from afar, there was a limit as to what they could see in the shadows from afar...

**A/N: Just wanted to give you guys a little something to gnaw on while research is being done to hopefully improve the upcoming arc. Until then, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds.**

Going the extra mile #3

Deleted Scene: The Karax Solution (part 2 (a canon extra)

Workshop, Spear of Adun

"Gah... Nn... Gh!... Br-rr..."

"I must say I didn't think you could actually... _feel_ your code being changed."

"It is not pleasant. Like a dentist appointment."

Karax paused long enough to glance over to the hooked up master probe me. "I'm sorry but what is a dentist?"

... "A doctor for terran teeth."

"Ah. Thank you." With that he returned to his console and the appointment resumed. "Hrnrn..."

"Just a little longer," he assured me. "I'm almost through with the roster update."

"Good, good—" I started to say before the latest update hit me. "Wait, Templars? Can the Purifiers even use them?"

"In all honesty the Purifiers have not been given such specs during their initial creation. For all intents and purposes the program was in its early stages when the Purifiers were sealed away. As such there were no blueprints available to even experiment the use of... _artificial_ means of using psionic energy," he replied while sparing 'me' a glance.

"So I'm getting experimental equipment then."

"That is correct," he answered me a-matter-of-factly.

"... just so you know I never had psychic powers before. As such I have no idea how to use them. For your information."

_That_ stopped him. He stared at the monitor in front of him as he gently tapped his finger along the keyboard before he fully turned toward the master probe.

"I'll admit, it _is_ risky. At the same time however for where you are going it is likely you will not receive any support whatsoever should Amon view you as a threat. As such I would be remiss not to at least attempt to grant to every possible advantage we have at our disposal."

A few keystrokes later and something most definitely not on the protoss' typical retinue of things to build was presented to my data bank: anti-orbital cannonry.

(_"Clang-clang-clang!"_)

"That's... That's..."

"_Clang!"_

"... _extremely _generous of you," I say I try not ignore the fact that units left and right were struggling to stay on their feet or, in the other probe's case, afloat.

Karax merely chuckled. "You _are_ risking your life for us after all."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure."

...

"But so we're on the same page, you are aware I'm liable to blow both your prototypes and myself up by accident, right?"

A dark chuckle echoed through the room and snapped everyone's attention to the door—

"Holy crap your more scary in person."

"Well," Alarak pleasantly rasped as he sauntered his way through the door, "at least you have _some_ intelligence about you. Kudos to you, impersonator."

... how did I forget you're a dick again?

Regardless, both my probes couldn't help but back away from him as he neared. By virtue of having periphery of the more standard probe it was able to slip behind one of Fenix's legs, not that he seemed to mind much given Alarak's presence. The master probe was not as lucky. For all of their advancements even the protoss had to resort to cables and wires at times; apparently whatever operating system I was using didn't quite mesh well enough with Karax's up to date version to allow significant amounts of data transfer and the like beyond more basic functions; my flip phone to their iphone 10 as it were.

"May I ask what brings you to my workshop, Alarak?" Karax asked as neutrally as possible. The Master of, or would be master of the Tal'darim, didn't answer him as his red eyes seemingly bore into my soul through the master probe's visual sensor. After a few moments it seemed as if he had his answer between a small huff of amusement and simply turning away as if to leave the room at his own leisurely pace.

"Just taking stock of our fodder, nothing more," he hummed before stopping mid stride to peer over at Karax's console. "Oh? What is this?" he murmur aloud. He purposefully ignored Fenix's pronounced stomp as the former practically stalked his way to Karax's workstation. As for the smith himself he simply took a step back, seemingly finding no reason to challenge whatever interest the highlord had in it.

"Oh? _What_ . _Is._ _This_?" he repeated himself, more to himself than anything. If anything he probably didn't really care if he recieved any answer or not.

I was content to ignore him in the hopes he'd go away. Fenix, I'm not sure since he had remained silent beyond initially introducing himself to me yet it almost seemed as if he was waiting for something bad to happen. Karax however was the most amiable of us all.

"An arbalest. A weapon which, sadly, hadn't seen much use throughout our history beyond ceremonial purposes or immediate on hand defense at best."

Alarak gave the protoss equivalent of a snort. Or at least I think he did. "Hm. It almost reminds me of the Flagellants' armaments."

"I'm sorry?"

Bored now, Alarak waved a dismissive hand at the phase-smith. "They are next to the vanguard in their weakness and shame. Yet unlike them they have at least _some_ promise in redeeming themselves." He snorted as he finally turned to leave and made good on that unspoken promise. "Not that they live long enough to do so," he said before he vanished back into depths of the arc ship.

Slowly my probe slipped out from its hiding place behind Fenix's leg as the warrior continued to stare at the doorway where Alarak vanished from view. Karax joined him for a spell whilst stroking his bone-beard before humming to himself in thought as he returned to the console.

"Out of curiosity, with your knowledge of our... campaign... did we employ any warriors using arbalests?" Karax asked.

"No." Though I intended to keep it in my 'head' my probe ended up shaking its body in lieu of shaking my head... Yep. "Just variants of immortals, stalkers, adepts and dragoons for traditional ranged support."

"Interesting," Karax hummed as he began to excitedly do _something_ on the console.

"Allow me a question of my own if you will." Both probes snapped back to Fenix as he gazed down at the normal probe. "From your knowledge, can we truly trust Alarak?"

"Yes."

Even with a robotic body like myself he wasn't able to hide his shock.

"Like him or not he always keeps his word. As long as Amon lives he'll be an ally. Or at least one to someone he can respect like Artanis."

Granted it's hard to tell with his metal body but I think that relaxed him somewhat.

"I see. Thank you."

"Excuse me Friend Jack," both probes turned to him, "would you be willing to offer up your opinion?"

"Hm?"

_Update._

Hm? Wha—MINIGUN! MINIGUN MINIGUN MINIGUN!


End file.
